Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Fake News: What Is The Real Issue?, Hannah Hines

Honors Theses

In the 2016 election, fake news was a real, and well-publicized, story. Foreign bodies were accused of meddling in America's political system by spreading fake stories through widely used social media outlets such as Facebook, Google, and Twitter, and these stories reportedly garnered a wide audience. According to Facebook itself, Russian bot-generated fake news reached 126 million users -- almost half of the U.S. population.

There was much outcry and uproar about the fake news conundrum, with advocates and activists on all sides pointing a finger one way or the other. Many pontificated on whether these stories affected the outcome …