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How to spot fake news in eight simple steps

How to spot fake news in eight simple steps (text version)
Watch a video -- or a try a quiz
Inaccurate and misleading information during elections
Tips for the 2025 Canadian federal election
Elections Canada's Digital Literacy page includes tips for:
- spotting inaccurate information, including via the use of AI
- checking sources
- countering inaccurate information (stopping the spread, encouraging others to verify what they post, and reporting to social media platforms).
The Government of Canada has also created resources for resisting disinformation during an election. -- including a printable fact sheet.
Impacts of AI
In AI is making elections weird: Lessons from a simulated war-game exercise, Concordia researchers created a simulation to evaluate generative AI’s impact on Canada’s political information cycle, noting "Generative AI is easy to use for disruption," and "AI detection tools can only go so far."
In April 2025, the CBC tested how easy it was to create fake images of real politicians using ChatGPT, and in 3 sneaky ways you could be influenced this election went to the Media Ecosystem Observatory to learn more about what we need to watch for -- including AI, bots, and manipulated social media groups.
Tips for interpreting breaking news
Further resources
Tools and strategies from journalists
From the Canadian Association of Journalists, see Principles for Ethical Journalism.
The BBC (in the United Kingdom) covers current misinformation and false claims in international news in their weekly BBC Verify feature.
Attribution: About the How to Spot Fake News infographic
The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) created this infographic (based on FactCheck.org’s 2016 article How to Spot Fake News). "Download, print, translate, and share – at home, at your library, in your local community, and in social media networks. The more we crowdsource our wisdom, the wiser the world becomes. You can also check out FactCheck.org’s video based on the article."