Why Looking for #fakenews Is so Important

  I have a cousin-in-law who is… naïve, to say the least. He seemingly shares anything and everything and rarely says much about the said shared post. 

A recent one, however, was much too suspicious for me to remain silent. He shared a video that claimed showing deportation in the New York City Subway in the Bronx. However, look at the very first frame of the video. 

Now, compare it to the Google Map image of the said station. 

Not only does it look NOTHING like the NYC subway, but the signage is in FRENCH (sortie = exit). Also, I don’t remember ever seeing a blue subway car… in New York. After a few seconds, here is what I saw. 

STM stands for Société de transport de Montréal, i.e. the public transit system corporation in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. My guess is that it’s a video of the métro’s evacuation during one of its numerous breakdown. 

When I pointed these easy-to-see facts, he quickly answered that he “knew it was not at the 149th St. station. These people are crazy uninforming (sic)”. Then why share it without passing any comment on it? Lest you put it in an album like “statist nonsense”, then how am I supposed to know that you don’t blindly endorse the post you shared? 

So people, always be on the lookout when sharing something. Don’t fall for #fakenews that anyone with the slightest sense of observation can identity. Keep your integrity intact.