82 Percent Of Middle School Students Unable To Differentiate Between Real, Fake News, Study Finds
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A new study reveals middle school students are unable to tell the difference between real and fake news.
The Wall Street Journal reports that a Stanford University study found that 82 percent of middle school students were unable to differentiate between an ad labeled "sponsored content" and a real news story on a website.
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The study also showed that many students would not check the source, but rather judged news tweets on whether it contained a large photo or how much detail was contained in the tweet.
The Journal reports that 66 percent of the middle school students believed they could trust a post written by a bank executive who said that young adults need financial-planning help. Also, nearly 40 percent of high school students thought that a photo of deformed daisies proved there were toxic conditions near the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan. However, no source was given of the photo.
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Facebook and Google News have been criticized for not doing enough to combat fake news.
The study surveyed 7,804 students from middle school to college.
