Fake news is all around us, in our pockets, on our computer screens, on the radio or on more believable media, like in the papers or on TV news. The real question is, what effects it can have on a population of many thousands or even millions of people.

Spread of disinformation in general, fake news being only a small part of lies called disinformation, can damage opinions of many people. Only a small part of disinformation originally started as a joke, most of it started from groups of people, whose aim is to profit from general population. If a person believes some information to be true, there is a certain likelihood of this information to be spread to other people, causing more people to believe and make the information more believable.

The effect of disinformation on general population is undeniable. For example, the antivaccination movement gaining popularity in later years is considered very dangerous by most experts, as vaccinations prevented spread of many deadly and preventable diseases, for example polio, which can be seen increasingly more dangerous in last years.

Not all disinformation is dangerous to public health, some are dangerous to physical and mental health of certain individuals, some only cause a certain amount of panic, some used to stop the spread of news from other sources and thus create a distraction.

In the end, disinformation is only dangerous to people if they believe it. The easiest way to stop spreading disinformation, is not to share it with other people on social media, personally with your friends or family, or even not showing it to other people. If you do not know if the news is fake or real, think about sharing it with other people before posting it on social media. Fake news can only spread if people allow it, as it spreads faster, the more people share it.