Fake news is unavoidable.
While the idea of “fake news” was born out of the very real instances of fake news stories helping sway the election in favor of now-President Donald Trump, it has since been co-opted by Trump’s administration to be used as a weapon to sow doubt in legitimate media stories that they find unappealing.
But real fake news—not the kind Trump likes to point out on Twitter virtually every day—is pervasive. And if you care about reading truthful stories, you need to be on high alert.
Facebook, a primary driver of traffic to publications, came under fire late last year for allowing the promotion of fake news sites that deal in conspiracy theories rather than facts. Some Facebook employees even reportedly revolted and took matters into their own hands before the company took steps to reduce fake news.
Both Facebook and Google have responded by cutting these sites out of their advertising networks and otherwise making their stories harder to find. And PolitiFact, a Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-checking site, has launched a new section devoted to fake news.
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But fake news sites are still out there, and someone on your Facebook friend’s list is probably sharing one of their stories right now. If you want to check out whether a story is from a dubious source yourself, you can use one of these three Google Chrome plugins to check.
Late last year, Melissa Zimdars, a media professor at Merrimack College in Massachusetts, compiled a list of “fake, false, or regularly misleading websites” that purposefully publish fake information or are otherwise entirely unreliable. The list, which was temporarily removed due to threats and harassment Zimdars says she received, also included sites that “may circulate misleading and/or potentially unreliable information” or “sometimes use clickbait-y headlines and social media descriptions.”
Of course, “real news” media outlets and journalists sometimes make mistakes, including us at the Daily Dot. And when we do, we issue corrections and take responsibility for those mistakes. Fake news sites make no such efforts toward accuracy and often invent entirely fictional stories, which is what puts them in a different category. Further, some fake news sites—particularly government-controlled media outlets—mostly publish factual news but mix in some fake stories for propaganda purposes.
Below, we’ve compiled a list of 176 sites that Zimdars and the other researchers who created the list rank as straight-up “fake news.” The full list, which is hundreds of sites long, also includes “clickbait” sites, publications with heavy bias, satire, publications that promote “hate,” “conspiracy,” or “junk science, ”and those that specialize in rumors or unreliable information. To see the full list, click here.
Next time you see a headline that just feels off, come back here and check if it’s from one of these popular fake news websites.
Fake news sites
1. 70news.wordpress.com
2. 82.221.129.208
3. Abcnews.com.co
4. Alternativemediasyndicate.com
5. Americannews.com
6. Americanoverlook.com
7. Americanreviewer.com
8. Bighairynews.com
9. Bostonleader.com
10. Cap-news.com
11. Cbsnews.com.co
12. Channel-7-news.com
13. Cityworldnews.com
14. Civictribune.com
15. Clashdaily.com
16. Conservativebyte.com
17. Conservativedailypost.com
18. Conservativefighters.com
19. Conservativeinfidel.com
20. Dailybuzzlive.com
21. Dailyheadlines.com
22. Dailyheadlines.net
23. Dcgazette.com
24. DeadlyClear.wordpress.com
25. Denverguardian.com
26. Departed.co
27. Donaldtrumpnews.co
28. Drudgereport.com.co
29. Enabon.com
30. Enduringvision.com
31. FarmWars.info
32. Freedomdaily.com
33. Goneleft.com
34. Gopthedailydose.com
35. healthycareandbeauty.com
36. Healthyworldhouse.com
37. Immediatesafety.org
38. Infostormer.com
49. Interestingdailynews.com
40. Intrendtoday.com
41. Investmentwatchblog.com
42. Itaglive.com
43. ItMakesSenseBlog.com
44. Iwanttoexplore.com
45. Jewsnews.co.il
46. Konkonsagh.biz
47. Krbcnews.com
48. Ky12news.com
49. Ladylibertynews.com
50. Lastdeplorables.com
51. Learnprogress.org
52. Liberalplug.com
53. Libertyalliance.com
54. Local31news.com
55. Madworldnews.com
56. Maganews.co
57. Majorthoughts.com
58. Mediamass.net
59. Megynkelly.us
60. Mentor2day.com
61. Metropolitanworlds.com
62. Mpidailymagazine.com
63. Myfreshnews.com
64. Myzonetoday.com
65. Yourfunpage.com
66. Natives-today.com
67. Nbc.com.co
68. nephef.com
69. newpoliticstoday.com
70. news4ktla.com
71. newsbbc.net
72. newsbreakshere.com
73. newsbysquad.com
74. newsdaily12.com
75. newsfrompolitics.com
76. newsleak.co
77. newslo.com
78. newsmagazine.com
79. newswatch28.com
80. newswatch33.com
81. notallowedto.com
82. now8news.com
83. onepoliticalplaza.com
84. openmagazines.com
85. pakalertpress.com
86. pamelageller.com
87. politicalo.com
88. politicalsitenews.com
89. politicono.com
90. politicsusanews.com
91. president45donaldtrump.com
92. prntly.com
93. proamericanews.com
94. react365.com
95. readconservatives.news
96. reagancoalition.com
97. realnewsrightnow.com
98. redcountry.us
99. redrocktribune.com
100. religionmind.com
101. rogue-nation3.com
102. rumorjournal.com
103. socialeverythings.com
104. sputniknews.com
105. stormcloudsgathering.com
106. success-street.com
107. TDTalliance.com
108. teaparty.org
109. the-insider.co
110. thebigriddle.com
111. thecontroversialfiles.net
112. thefreepatriot.org
113. theinternetpost.net
114. themoralofthestory.us
115. thenet24h.com
116. thenewyorkevening.com
117. theracketreport.com
118. thereporterz.com
119. thetrumpmedia.com
120. theusa-news.com
121. thewashingtonpress.com
122. threepercenternation.com
123. times.com.mx
124. tmzworldnews.com
125. trueamericans.me
126. truetrumpers.com
127. trumpvision365.com
128. undergroundnewsreport.com
129. undergroundworldnews.com
130. unitedmediapublishing.com
131. universepolitics.com
132. usa-radio.com
133. usa-television.com
134. usa2016elections.com
135. usadailyinfo.com
136. usadailypolitics.com
137. usadailytime.com
138. usadosenews.com
139. usafirstinformation.com
140. usainfobox.com
141. usamagazinestudio.com
142. usanewsinsider.com
143. usanewspolitics.com
144. usanewstoday.com
145. usaphase.com
146. usapolitics24hrs.com
147. usapoliticsnow.com
148. usapoliticszone.com
149. usasnich.com
150. usasupreme.com
151. usatoday.com.co
152. usatodaynews.me
153. usatwentyfour.com
154. USAWatchdog.com
155. usconservativetoday.com
156. ushealthyadvisor.com
157. ushealthylife.com
158. usherald.com
159. usinfonews.com
160. uspoln.com
161. uspostman.com
162. usviewer.com
163. vigilantcitizen.com
164. viralactions.com
165. viralliberty.com
166. voxtribune.com
167. washingtonfed.com
168. washingtonpost.com.co
169. webdaily.com
170. weeklyworldnews.com
171. worldpoliticsnow.com
172. worldpoliticsus.com
173. worldrumor.com
174. worldstoriestoday.com
175. yesimright.com
Editor’s note: This story is regularly updated with new information. Websites that no longer fit the criteria of “fake news” will be removed. If you notice a site on the list is no longer active or no longer qualifies, please email us at politics@dailydot.com or tweet at us at @DotLayer8.
