Avoid falling victim to Fake News

Under the current Level 4 Lockdown SA regulations all public gatherings are prohibited, including religious gatherings. Only attendance of funerals is permitted, limited to 50 people, and under strict hygiene and social distancing conditions. #COVID19 #StaySafe

Here are some ways to avoid fake news:

• Use the criteria for evaluating information: Accuracy, Authority, Objective, Currency, and Coverage.
• Look at the domain name and the URL: News organizations typically own their own domain name.
• Check the credentials of the author.
• Check the links of the article: See if the information leads to credible sources.
• Look at the date and see when it was written.
• Look at the comments that are listed below the story.
• Open a second window and research the claims that are written in the story.
• Check your own biases: Sometimes we tend to look at information in the prism of our own beliefs.