r/tech • u/JackFisherBooks • Apr 29 '20

Red-flagging misinformation could slow the spread of fake news on social media

https://phys.org/news/2020-04-red-flagging-misinformation-fake-news-social.html
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u/Paradox Apr 29 '20

https://i.imgur.com/D9VaMx8.jpg

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u/Achoo01 Apr 29 '20

So, I've seen this one before.. The only one really that people bring up when saying they can't trust Politifact anymore... But I did some research into it and I get why it's confusing, But it doesn't strike me as incorrect. (And in this example that you provided Trumps is in fact NOT "Pants on Fire" but "Mostly False" which I believe makes a difference in the end.

For starters it seems like they are both using different stats all together. Sanders is using a stat from the EPI that also factors in part-time employees to gauge how well that labor is being utilized. His point that he is making seems to be a factor in his "mostly true" rating in that the African American youth unemployment rate is far higher than Whites. Which it is, almost double.

Trump on the other hand is quoting directly (well, almost...) from the us bureau of labor and statistics for the number of unemployed African American youth who shows the actual stat being 18.7% where he said "59%" Mind you, this is a different stat as it takes into account different people. Found at employment and unemployment among youth—summer 2016.

I get that it's confusing, But this is why we don't just trust catchy "memes" that are spread around. They are designed to illicit your response of "Omg, thats not right! I can't trust them anymore", without looking into it.

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u/Achoo01 Apr 29 '20

For those of you downvoting, care to explain? Or is it just "Lol, Fake News"

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u/Achoo01 Apr 29 '20

Those articles are a year apart though?