The fake crypto news phenomenon

In order to use all the positive aspects of the Internet in the right way and to know how to distinguish real from false information, we must be digitally and media literate. Today, digital and media literacy is built from an early age, it is taught in schools through school programs, but also other extracurricular activities.

With the development and expansion of social networks and unlimited content on them, Internet scams have become a daily occurrence.

In modern times, information is the most important thing in the world. The right information, at the right time, addressed to the right person, changes lives.

In the crypto world, fake information and fake news are very common and very diverse.

For example, the news that “Binance” bought about 100,000 BTC to save the price of Bitcoin (which was in a “free fall”), made waves on the Internet. However, that news was false, according to forkast.news. Many reported this news, retweeted it on their twitter profiles, made analysis, explanations and forecasts – all based on FAKE NEWS. With their work, they made their contribution in creating the decisions of many cryptocurrency owners at that moment, who believed the news.

But that is just one example and certainly not the only situation.

If you go after some of this information, and unfortunately there is a lot of it, it can lead you down the wrong path in your cryptocurrency exchange plans. Therefore, if you believe in a fake news, it can lead you to make a wrong conclusion, and be guided by it to trade with a loss.

Twitter is an extremely popular and powerful channel for the rapid transmission of information about the crypto market.

There are several accounts on twitter that are very popular, where you can find a lot of interesting and useful content on this topic, but which often transmit unverified information, publish some texts without a specified source, and a lot of incorrect information. Although there are many popular profiles on social networks that deal with cryptocurrencies and news about the crypto market, it should be borne in mind that they primarily deal with just that – sharing crypto news with the general public.

No matter how much they want to be accurate, precise and reliable for all those who follow them, they sometimes share inaccurate and insufficiently verified news too quickly out of a desire for exclusiveness.

  • Why is there fake news about cryptocurrencies and how does it affect the crypto market?

Regarding the impact of fake news on the crypto market, fake news is sometimes intended to achieve an immediate effect on the crypto exchange, to the benefit or detriment of a currency or other type of benefit in the processes of trade and transactions. Crypto market is uncertain and no one can predict with certainty the rise or fall of a currency. With fake news about one of the currencies or something secondary but closely related to the crypto market, the aim is to create an atmosphere in which a larger number of participants will change or direct their activities on the stock market in accordance with that information, which will give the effects that the information is intended to achieve.

We advise you not to make rash decisions guided by any information. Always give yourself enough time to check the news, think, and only then act as you think is best, or refrain from any action.

  • How to recognize fake news?

It is indeed, sometimes, a difficult task. Today, according to official research, fake news spreads much faster than accurate and true news.

Fake news very often in the form of various click baits from unusual URLs with an accent on capital letters and the words “scandalous”, “shocking” or “unbelievable” in the title.

Free fact-checking tools include checking the owner of the site, whether the information is on a list of proven fake news, and whether the image actually shows what it says it shows.

The process of verifying the accuracy of information can sometimes be quite a long process, but it is certainly recommended.

The basic tool for checking the accuracy of information that we all have is our critical thinking. It is enough to read the news carefully, connect it with some previous events, and in most cases it will be immediately clear to us that it is a lie.

To identify fake news, information verification tools can be applied according to the following rules:

  1. Checking the website where we found the information. If it’s a social network, check the account that shared/published the information.
  2. View the date of publication of the information. In this day and age, information gets old quickly or has already been debunked/verified in the meantime.
  3. Check the identity of the author of the information (Journalist? Expert on the given topic? Citizen?). Ask yourself what is his goal, to inform us, to share his point of view or to manipulate us?
  4. Investigate the origin of the information. Where it was first published? On the Internet, information is often shared, published, but also deformed, taken out of context or interpreted. That’s why it’s important to find out where the information is coming from.
  5. Always check if the source of the information is listed in the news itself. If the source is listed, you will be informed about the reliability of the information and can easily check it in other places. If the source is not mentioned, it does not immediately mean that the news is fake, but the probability of that is certainly much higher, so be careful.
  6. Ask the right questions, be curious and doubt. Critical thinking, as we stated above, is the most effective tool we have in protecting ourselves from fake news and conspiracy theories.

  • Why does fake news exist and why do we believe it?

Psychiatrist and psychotherapist Zoran Ilić told RTS that people’s nature is to believe, especially negative and catastrophic news. 

We actually only confirm what we already know. It’s called confirmation bias. We reject in advance any news that is contrary to what we already have as a belief. This means that over and over again we only confirm what we already know,” Ilić explains. 

He also states that everyone is a target of fake news, but that fake news is not believed by those who think slowly and are studious. “If we are surrounded by similar ones, we will spread the news to them, and also confirm again and again that our news is good. We often compete to be the first to publish the news, especially if it is sensational.”

Fake news is most often the bait for various models of Internet fraud. In any situation, it is best to first ask yourself “does the offer act as a lure for the naive” and then “is the pound too good to be true”.

Fake news is sometimes created by a simple journalistic error, but more often manipulation, propaganda and personal or institutional interests are seen in the background, wrapped in journalistic texts or television reports with bombastic headlines and unverified arguments.

Another reason for the massive spread of fake news is hidden in civilian journalism, that is, the desire of ordinary citizens to find themselves in the role of journalists. They, often without bad intentions, share unverified information with close people, Facebook friends or Twitter followers, and completely unwittingly contribute to the spread of false information.


Author: Semir Tutić