Fake News
Fake news undermines serious media coverage and makes it more difficult for journalists to cover significant news stories. The research finds the top 20 fake news stories on the 2016 presidential elections received more engagement on Facebook than the top 20 news stories on the election from 19 major media outlets. Anonymously-hosted fake news websites lacking known publishers have also been criticized because they make it difficult to prosecute sources of fake news for libel.