The city getting rich from fake news
Summary
Many of the fake news websites that appeared during the US Presidential election have been traced and pin pointed to a small city in Macedonia and are believed to have been started by teenagers. They are churning out sensationalist stories to earn cash from advertising. The young man sitting in the cafe looks barely more than a boy - he hasn't shaved for a few days, yet he's a long way off achieving designer stubble. The hair on his chin and cheeks is still soft and his smart navy blazer and clean white shirt make him look as if he's in school uniform.It's not the image that 19-year-old university student, Goran, sitting far back in his chair with one leg crossed over the other wants to portray. "The Americans loved our stories and we make money from them," he boasts, making sure I see the designer watch he's fiddling with. "Who cares if they are true or false?" The digital gold rush has certainly provided a welcome boom for Veles. Outside the school gates, every third sixth former admits to knowing someone involved on the sites or to running one of their own.
Key Statistics
- Goran says he worked on the fakery for only one month
- In that month he earned about 1,800 euros (£1,500)
- But he claims that is nothing compared to his friends who have been earning thousands of euros a day.
My Opinion
Fake news is something that has got very complicated very quickly and big social media conglomerates, news companies and similar have struggled to find a away to combat it up till now. However, now that a large majority of the fake sites have been pin pointed to Veles, Macedonia maybe companies will be able to come up with a more solid plan to combat these fake sites more than just shutting them down because people can just as easily start them back up again under a different name. At the same time, I also think it is horrendous how people are able to make a quick buck through these sites with advertising on them. They are banking off others misfortunate of believing these fake stories because many of us do not know how to spot what is real and what is not.
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