Fake news & co.

1836 – The Great Moon Hoax -Portrait of a bat-like winged humanoids (“Vespertilio-homo”), from an edition of the Moon series published in Naples

“Fake news“, “conspiracy theories”, and “hoaxes” are very common on the internet.

“Fake news” are created to damage a person, a business, an agency, or a government, or to get attention and to get clicks on the internet.

“A conspiracy theory” is an explanation of an event or situation that is different from the official account. A lot of the times conspiracy theories are about a government or a business doing something illegal or to harm someone. (for example, some people consider the moon landing was fake, Paul McCartney died in 1966, and so on)

“A hoax” is a type of practical joke that is meant to embarrass or hurt people (for example there are death hoaxes, where people say a celebrity is dead, but it’s not true, it’s a joke; or pictures of an alien or a monster)