The fake news, that is, fake news, is considered one of the global threats most dangerous according to the polls of Global Risks Report 2025 of the World Economic Forum. Indeed, misinformation has always existed. In fact, they are different mechanisms of ours brain which lead us to indulge in fake news. The era of social media, however, has made fake news increasingly frequent and increasingly attractive thanks toartificial intelligenceto bots and to precise communication techniques used by those who, for their own political or economic purposes, are inclined to spread misleading news.
Let’s see in this article what fake news is, differentiating misinformation from misinformation and what makes fake news so effective, both from a perspective psychological That technological.
The difference between disinformation and misinformation
We very often hear about fake news, in short “false news”, and spreading this type of news is called “disinformation”, i.e. DIS-informing, therefore depriving the listener of correct information. However, we must not confuse DIS-information with MIS-information. They are two different concepts: the misinformation it’s diffusion intentional of false or distorted news – that is, people deliberately lie to advance their own interests, for example political or economic; there misinformation, instead, it’s when we spread false content unconsciously, that is, believing they are saying something true.
For example, each of us misinforms every time we re-share a post or piece of news on social media, because we are convinced that it is true, and instead it is false.
Fake news in the social media era: some famous examples
As we were saying, nowadays fake news spreads like wildfire “thanks” to the power of social media. There are several reasons why this news is gaining traction. They exist news given in a hurry from newspapers which therefore report wrong details, but most of the time misinformation today arises in two different circumstances.
Disinformation and memes
The first is: from jokes, i.e. memes that become reality for a few hours or days. A sensational example was that of the alleged murderer of Charlie Kirk. The false news originated from Italy that the killer was called Gustavo LaFessa, a play on words easily understood in Italian, but not in English. So much so that the news was reshared by some American influencers and even ended up on Wikipedia Indonesia.
Cases of slander
Then there are the more serious cases, those of deliberate slander. A very famous example was that of the Algerian boxer Imane Khelif who won against an Italian boxer and the web, enraged, declared that she was a transgender woman. Many politicians spread this fake news to do propaganda against transsexual people. And fake news in the political sphere is unfortunately very frequent, especially in those states – such as China or Russia – where press freedom is limited.
Fake news and marketing
In the economic field there is also fake news relating to marketing: brands that tell about scientific falsehoods – for example – so as to promote your own very personal product.
The political sphere
Another very recent example – and here we come to a fundamental point – is that of photo by Giorgia Meloni generated with AI that portrayed her in intimate attitudes spread to discredit her.
If we scroll through social media today, a very high percentage of the images and videos we find are fake, but they are perfect, they are very credible thanks to the giant strides that artificial intelligence has made.
In fact, until last year, it was much easier to recognize general content with AI: hands with 6 fingers, robotic voice, unnatural hair. Or, until very recently AI wasn’t good with geometry, with lights, shadows, with writing.
Eh, today that’s no longer the case. THE’AI is improving day by day and fake news mixes more and more violently with reality, especially in this infodemic caused by social media.
But, what is it that makes misinformation so effective?
There are two aspects to consider: one is that the human mind she’s not that good at distinguishing real news from fake news. And the other is that intentional fake news comes built ad hocthat is, with characteristics that make them particularly attractive.
The cognitive biases that make us believe fake news
Let’s look at some of the cognitive mechanisms that can make misinformation particularly attractive.
Cognitive greed
The first is what is called cognitive greed, that is, the tendency to want to understand quicklyminimizing effort. In itself it is not a negative attitude, but in the sea of information that is the internet, it risks leading us to take as good even what – good – is not.
The authority bias
Added to this is the fact that we tend to believe with eyes closed in figures that we believe authoritative, for example an expert or an institution. This is the so-called authority bias. It must be said that it is quite inevitable: we cannot study everything, so it is normal to trust the experts. But it always is important to check if someone who claims to be an expert is truly an expert and also to hear multiple voices on the same topic. For example, in the medical field it is often done: multiple doctors are consulted before having a diagnosis.
The illusory truth effect
Then there’s the fact that if we hear a piece of news over and over again, we eventually take it for granted that it’s true. It’s the so-called Illusory Truth Effect, and it happens a lot with social media: as soon as a piece of news comes out, it spreads like wildfire and we see it appear in so many profiles that we think it’s true.
The continued influence effect
And then, even when we discover that the news was actually false – as in the case of autism and vaccines – there is a tendency to not being able to get rid of that thought. It is the so-called continued influence effect, and it is the reason why misinformation continues to influence people’s judgments even after being proven wrong.
The confirmation bias
So let’s get to the topic of maybe more important: the confirmation bias, that is, that distortion of our thinking which unconsciously – in a sea of information – makes us select precisely those that they confirm what we already thought. That is, we like to believe news that is closest to what we already thought, those who confirm our political theses or our lifestyle without questioning the sources.
The mechanisms behind disinformation
From a point of view of communication, Those who create fake news mainly use these tricks.
Imitate journalism
The first is: imitate real journalismthen base your consistency on well-layout posts, graphics that remind us of official sources or even pretend to exist profiles. To make everything more credible, they are also used false quotes from important people or create fake experts, so as to leverage the authority bias we talked about. Everything is seasoned with simple and effective language, accessible to everyone.
They are also often used sensationalist headlines and exaggerated, so-called clickbait headlines. They are misleading titles, of articles which then perhaps report correct information within them. In this case the fake news lies in the title, rather than in the content.
Leverage emotions
Then there is the central point: to leverage people’s emotions, above all indignation, fear or worry. If the news grips us, it arouses a reaction in us, for better or for worse. And if they arouse a reaction in us, we tend to reshare them or comment on them, increasing the engagement of that content, and therefore contributing to its diffusion.
Artificial intelligence and bots
From a technological point of view, however, there are two main elements that help fake news spread quickly: theartificial intelligencewhich makes any fake news extremely credible, because it provides visual support for the words and the fake accounts hey bot. There are real factories of fake accounts – the so-called troll farm – who, en masse, spread and comment on fake news so as to spread it like wildfire.
This type of mechanism is mainly used for making political propaganda and manipulate public opinion. And there are many documented cases in which it has been used: the elections in Russia, in Brazil, those in the USA in 2016, the propaganda of the Communist Party in China, but also the Brexit referendum. All episodes in which scholars tell us that political results were influenced by an army of fake profiles ready to spread propaganda.
