Fake news headlines are going viral. Here’s what to know.

A screenshot of a news headline that looked like it came from The Atlantic went viral in early October for suggesting Vice President Kamala Harris “may need to steal” the election to save democracy. 

But the headline was fabricated. The Atlantic said in a statement that the screenshot was the latest in a series of fake Atlantic headlines, most of which are “crudely faked, with grainy resolution, and some of them use hateful language.” 

These fake headlines can mislead voters and the public at a time when factually accurate information is crucial, according to Jeffrey Blevins, a professor at the University of Cincinnati’s Journalism & Public and International Affairs department.

“When you go online, there’s just this firehose of information out there,” Blevins said. “I think we need real serious media literacy education that starts a lot sooner, that starts in K-12.”

An ongoing misinformation trend

Fake news headlines duping the public is not a new phenomenon, and they don’t always focus on politics. 

CBS News identified fake headlines purporting to be from outlets including The New York Times, The Associated Press, CNN and local news sites. The headlines referenced the 2024 campaign, aid for Ukraine, the 2024 Paris Olympics and other subjects.

Some fake headlines posted to social media are labeled with a warning that the article is not real. But that’s not always the case. One bogus headline that appears to be from The Atlantic was viewed more than 3 million times on X, with no label identifying it as fabricated.

One concern for misinformation experts is who is behind spreading and bolstering fake headline screenshots. “The real problem is when elected officials, politicians, celebrities, influencers start reposting this stuff,” Blevins said. “That gives it real credibility, and quite frankly, they should know better. I think many of them do, they just don’t care.”

Elon Musk, the owner of X, has previously shared a fake Telegraph headline that was seen over 1.5 million times and resulted in the publication releasing a statement that the headline was not real. Satire accounts on X have also shared fake headlines, racking up millions of views.

An April 2024 study conducted by MIT and Columbia University researchers found that when confronted with both a fake and a real news story to see if the public can discern between the two, 50% of those surveyed were uncertain, 47% chose the true story and 3% the fake story.

Discerning fact from fiction is only one part of the challenge when it comes to misinformation and the media, Jason Davis, a research professor at Syracuse University whose work focuses on detecting disinformation and misinformation, told CBS News.

“Right now, the biggest challenge we have is the low barrier to entry for creating, disseminating at scale and volume and speed a misinformation and disinformation propaganda campaign,” Davis said. “It takes very little resources.”

How to spot fake news headlines

With misinformation on the rise online, experts say there are several quick and easy ways to check if a headline is real:

1. Find the primary source: Get off social media and look up the headline online to see what results come up. Better yet, search the headline directly on the outlet’s website to see if it exists.
2. Look for visual clues: Is the image or article screenshot high quality, or pixelated like this fake New York Times headline screenshot? Is an author or publishing date visible? Does the font and style match other real articles from the same outlet?
3. Gauge your reaction: Bad actors can craft fake headlines using evocative language to elicit an emotional response from the reader.
4. Check other news outlets: What are your local news outlets reporting? Do national outlets have similar coverage? Try to find multiple reputable sources reporting the information.
5. Check your mindset: When you’re scrolling on social media, you may not be taking information in with a critical mindset. It’s important to keep your guard up with information you find online. 

Davis cautions that the days just before, during and after the November presidential election will be an opportune window of time for those seeking to spread misinformation. 

“The liar’s dividend is high,” Davis said. “I think we’re going to see a tsunami of this kind of content, because I only need to fool you for a critical period of time and then I get the outcome that I want in the real world.”