Jestin Coler, the owner of DenverGuardian.com, and CEO of a company called Disinfomedia said, “My educational background is in political science. I’ve always enjoyed the ideas of propaganda and misinformation. I got into fake news around 2013, to highlight the extremism of the white nationalist alt-right.”
Coler was shocked to discover just how quickly fake news could spread using social media. His story about the FBI agent generated over 1.6 million views within 10 days of being published on the site. Every time that story is shared on social media, clicks are being generated, and Coler is profiting from the advertisements strategically placed on his website.
A fake news website can be defined as any website that knowingly publishes hoaxes, propaganda, and disinformation to drive web traffic inflamed by social media. Google and Facebook have begun to ban fake news websites from using their online advertising. Facebook has also partnered with various fact-checking groups to pro-actively flag fraudulent news and hoaxes.
