Fake News Spreading About HIV Is Old News

Maybe the solution to fake news is as simple as telling the actual truth more.

Real news sites are saying fake news on your favorite social media platform that you are constantly on probably cost Hillary Clinton the election.

She joked last week on Capital Hill about the shocking election that she just lost to Donald Trump.

“After a few weeks of taking selfies in the woods, I thought it’d be a good idea to come out,” she said.

And Clinton was ready to take to task the exact thing that may have caused her to lose the election, according to some experts.

“The epidemic of malicious fake news and false propaganda that flooded social media over the past year — it’s now clear that so-called fake news can have real world consequences,” Clinton said. “This isn’t about politics or bipartisanship. Lives are at risk.”

“It’s a danger that must be addressed and addressed quickly,” Clinton said.

But fake news isn’t something new.

You probably have seen the headlines about candidates during the race– some fake news allegedly was created by supporters of the candidates and some was just really creative like the headline: “Clinton promises more transparency; and orders stealth pantsuit from Secret Service” but is fake news really that new? No. Of course not.

Those of us in the HIV space have been battling fake news for a hot minute.

Example one is the HIV-infected bananas story.  It is still making its round on social media and we are combating it with educational posts.

HIV isn't infecting oranges and bananas. It's an urban myth again being seen on social. #HIVscoop pic.twitter.com/KG7NcnBWQS

— Josh Robbins (@imstillJosh) November 14, 2015

 

Watch this:  It’s how we can use the truth to combat fake news– by telling the truth more.

#HIVscoop – 🍌 Bananas infected with #HIV viral story is not true. Some ppl believe this story– watch this! It's 🐴💩. pic.twitter.com/AdKWiiGQMx

— Josh Robbins (@HIVscoop) April 4, 2016

And I have come to the understanding that fake news won’t go away, unfortunately. So what can we do about it? Well, we have been fighting straight up sensationalistic headlines by speaking up. We refuse to stay silent about it. And we must continue.

My point is simply that we can’t limit fake news, but we can speak up against it with actual information.

I’m for real!