[pcvarmint]

You can't solve it anymore than you can have 100% "objective" news.

People need to be free to read all viewpoints and come up with their own opinions.

Most of the time, news is called "fake" because it says things which, in the context of our preconceived values, leads to contradictions or absurdities. Viewed from a different value system, the same facts can have totally different meanings and consequences. Other times, "fake news" is just smear tactics for a larger political agenda.

A site claiming to identify or prevent "fake news" just winds up being another opinion site.

[NeutronBoy]

I agree. You need to be able to differentiate between 'types' of fake news. It means different things to different people. Three perspectives I can think of at the top of my head, but it's a sliding scale:

1. Flatout lies with no factual basis (Hillary Clinton/Donald Trump is a lizard person from Mars)

2. Mis-truths of accepted facts, or mis-representation of statistics (climate change)

3. Opinions that you don't agree with (ACA is good/bad, or The Media is good/bad)

[sheepmullet]

We are already very good at detecting and routing around #1.

The problem is people use #2 and #3 to build up ideologies in the same way that advertisers build up brands.

Take for example the wage gap between genders.

There is a moderate wage gap (20-30%) if you look at unadjusted figures.

Fringe feminists try and use this stat to build a general sense of unease with their followers.

This primes the reader for a few anecdotes of women being unfairly passed over for promotion and the reader walks away thinking there is a widespread issue of women being treated poorly in the workplace.

White nationalists do the same thing. It is a fact that African Americans make up a disproportionate amount of murderers by race.

White nationalists will then use a few anecdotes of African Americans killing innocent white families and the reader walks away with a negative impression of African Americans.

And now see what I've just done with my comment: I've linked white nationalists and feminists.

By placing these two examples together I am connecting them for the reader and subtly discrediting these feminists.