fake news sites

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Here are all the ‘fake news’ sites to watch out for on Facebook

It's a minefield out there, folks.

 

Andrew Couts

 

Andrew Wyrich

Tech

Posted on Nov 16, 2016   Updated on Jan 27, 2021, 12:25 am CST

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.

READ MORE:


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.

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*First Published: Nov 16, 2016, 1:58 pm CST