As 2018 drew to a close, BuzzFeed analyzed the most-shared fake stories on Facebook and found that the misinformation industry is still thriving. According to the report, the top 50 fake stories earned 22 million shares, reactions, and comments — just 7 percent less than the previous year’s crop, and more than the 2016 winners.
Two years after Facebook began making a serious effort to counter the viral spread of misinformation, hoaxes remain a fact of life on social networks. Whether motivated by profits, politics, or sheer mischief, hoaxers continue to find ways around limitations placed on them by the social networks where they operate.
With fake stories a seemingly permanent fixture of life online — and the threat of convincing fake...