#PizzaGate is the latest fake-news freakout, highlighting the particular dangers whenย fictitious items on the Internet use real names but not real facts. This came to light on Sunday when a gunshot was fired inside a popular Washington, D.C. pizzeria because of an erroneousย news item associated with the Clinton family.
The phenomenon of fake news, while not new, has become a major problem in media recently with everyone from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to CBS anchor Scott Pelley speaking out against it. Monday afternoon White House press secretary Josh Earnest said, “It’s deeply troubling that some of those false reports could lead to violence.”