BBC Homepage
  • Skip to content
  • Accessibility Help
  • Your account
  • Notifications
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • More menu
More menu
Search BBC
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
Close menu
BBC News
Menu
  • Home
  • InDepth
  • Israel-Gaza war
  • War in Ukraine
  • Climate
  • UK
  • World
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Culture
More
  • Tech
  • Science
  • Health
  • Family & Education
  • In Pictures
  • Newsbeat
  • BBC Verify
  • Disability
  • BBC Trending

The rise of left-wing, anti-Trump fake news

  • Published
    15 April 2017
Share page
About sharing
fake news imageImage source, Nora Carol Photography
BBC Trending
Going in-depth on social media

Since the US election presidential race, fact checking websites report what seems like an increase in anti-Trump, 'liberal fake news'.

The fact-checking site Snopes, external told BBC Trending radio that in the past week, for example, they have debunked many more anti-Republican party stories than pro-Republican ones.

One example of an incorrect story is the unflattering, digitally-manipulated image, which suggested that US President Donald Trump had diarrhoea during a recent golf outing.

It's hard to gather definitive data on the political bias in fake news stories, so the evidence for a rise in 'liberal fake news' is essentially anecdotal. But a recent study did effectively debunk the stereotype that fake news tends to be shared more by uneducated people or those with right-leaning politics, as compared to other groups.

"Fascinating and frightening"

"It [fake news] affects both the right and the left. It affects educated and uneducated. So the stereotypes of it being simply right-wing and simply uneducated are 100% not true," says Jeff Green, who is the CEO of Trade Desk, an internet advertising company that was recently commissioned by American TV channel CBS to investigate who is reading and sharing fake news online.

His company did this by initially putting out two fake news stories - one from the left which falsely stated police had raided a protestors camp at Standing Rock and burnt it down, and the other from a right-wing website about false claims there was a congressional plot to oust Donald Trump.

Standing RockImage source, Reuters
Image caption,

A left-wing fake story falsely claimed police had raided a protestors camp at Standing Rock and burnt it down

By using specialist software, the company's researchers then followed readers' online behaviour to get an idea of who and where they were.

"On the left if you're consuming fake news you're 34 times more likely than the general population to be a college graduate," says Green.

If you're on the right, he says, you're 18 times more likely than the general population to to be in the top 20 percent of income earners.

And the study revealed another disturbing trend: the more you consume fake news, the more likely you are to vote. It's "fascinating and frightening at the same time," says Green.

Confirmation bias

One of the reasons for the growth in liberal fake news is financial.

"Those people who generate this kind of fake news don't care about politics. They just care about generating clicks, and so sometimes they generate similar messages for the right and the left," says Filippo Menczer, a professor of Informatics and Computer Science at Indiana University who runs the fake news tracking site Hoaxy.

line

More from BBC Trending

Visit the Trending Facebook page, external

line

As for where the market for liberal fake news comes from, according to Claire Wardle, who is a research director at First Draft - a non-profit organisation which is looking for solutions around trust and truth in the digital age - the appetite stems from so-called confirmation bias.

"People like to share information that makes them feel good, " she says.

"Many people on the left right now are feeling overwhelmed and fearful and unsure of what's going to happen next. While they're scrolling through their information feeds at speed on small mobile phones their critical functions are not kicking in, and they're seeing information that makes them feel immediately connected with other people who think similarly to them. And without doing the usual checks that they would do, they're sharing and very quickly passing on similarly false and problematic content that we were seeing before the election."

Brooke Binkowski pictureImage source, Brooke Binkowski
Image caption,

"Check your sources," says Brooke Binkowski from fact-checking site Snopes

Brooke Binkowski, who is managing editor at Snopes website, warns newsreaders to stay aware of the emotions they feel when consuming content.

"If you are a newsreader or someone who likes reading news but you don't know immediately what may or may not be fake, ask yourself by reading the headline, what emotions do I feel? Am I really angry, scared, frustrated, do I want to share this to tell everybody what's going on? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then check your sources."

Correction 17 April 2017: A reference to Snopes finding that suggestions President Trump profited from the US missile strikes in Syria were false has been removed from this story. It found the claims unproven.

You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, external, and find us on Facebook, external. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending.

NEXT STORY: US internet 'warriors' send racially charged symbols to France

Marine Le Pen as Pepe the Frog

The far-right online strategy in France is very different, Marine Le Pen's party says. WATCH: US internet 'warriors' send racially charged symbols to France

Top stories

  • Live. 

    Asylum seekers can stay at hotel in Epping after government wins appeal

    • 9875 viewing9.9k viewing
  • Asylum hotel ruling won't feel like much of a victory at Home Office

    • Published
      23 minutes ago
  • How a leaked phone call derailed the Thai PM's career - and the Shinawatra dynasty

    • Published
      7 hours ago

More to explore

  • Asylum hotel ruling won't feel like much of a victory at Home Office

    Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, a middle aged woman with short grey hair, stares intently at the camera. She is wearing a pink jacket
  • How a leaked phone call derailed the Thai PM's career - and the Shinawatra dynasty

    Thailand's suspended prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra arrives for a press conference in Bangkok on July 1, 2025. She can be seen smiling as she walks through a doorway in a dark green blazer which she is wearing over a white shirt and white and blue floral skirt.
  • What is chickenpox and how can I get my child vaccinated?

    A boy with chickenpox has used calamine lotion on his spots to reduce itching
  • Emma Stone dazzles Venice with alien kidnap drama

    Emma Stone attends the "Bugonia" red carpet during the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on August 28, 2025 in Venice, Italy.
  • Survivors of South Africa's horrific building fire now live in fear of guns

    A head and shoulders shot of Thobeka Biyela wearing a blue-and-white striped vest top. She is standing in front of her corrugated iron home.
  • 'India put us on the boat like captives - then threw us in the sea'

    Soyed Noor (centre) and some of the other refugees speak to the BBC via a video call from Myanmar
  • A 'joyful' girl and a boy who loved sports - Victims in Minneapolis shooting identified

    From left: Harper Moyski, 10, and Fletcher Merkel, 8. Harper is smiling at the camera with wind in her hair. Fletcher is leaning on a railing and wearing a red shirt while smiling
  • What has changed 20 years on from Hurricane Katrina?

    • Attribution
      Weather
    A flooded street in New Orleans with damaged houses, debris and an overturned vehicle
  • Weekly quiz: What food did Meghan reveal Harry doesn't like?

    Meghan Sussex smiles as she stands in a kitchen
loading elsewhere stories

Most read

  1. 1

    Trump ends Secret Service protection for Harris

  2. 2

    Asylum hotel ruling won't feel like much of a victory at Home Office

  3. 3

    Doctor arrested over posts about son's rape victim

  4. 4

    Sexist Italian image-sharing website forced to shut after political outcry

  5. 5

    How a leaked phone call derailed the Thai PM's career - and the Shinawatra dynasty

  6. 6

    Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch's secrets to successful marriages

  7. 7

    UK blocks Israeli government delegation from arms trade fair

  8. 8

    Body of Israeli hostage recovered in Gaza, IDF says

  9. 9

    Man guilty of prison officer revenge murder

  10. 10

    Ministers didn't do cost review of council mergers

BBC News Services

  • On your mobile
  • On smart speakers
  • Get news alerts
  • Contact BBC News

Best of the BBC

  • Rolf Larsen investigates the case of a missing child

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    DNA
  • Comedian Bob Mortimer chooses his desert island tracks

    • Attribution
      Sounds
    Desert Island Discs: Bob Mortimer
  • Freddie Mercury: from iconic shots to private snaps

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    A Life in Ten Pictures: Freddie Mercury
  • When an Olympic badminton match caused controversy

    • Attribution
      Sounds
    Sporting Witness: Shuttlecock scandal
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • Terms of Use
  • About the BBC
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Accessibility Help
  • Parental Guidance
  • Contact the BBC
  • Make an editorial complaint
  • BBC emails for you

Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.