Fake news is putting lives at risk, says Hillary

AN epidemic of fake news is putting lives at risk, Hillary Clinton warned yesterday.

The failed Democratic presidential candidate said that false stories could have ‘real world consequences’.

She called on companies including Facebook and Google to ‘step up’ and take action.

Fake news – false stories and conspiracies propagated on the internet – became a major issue during the presidential campaign.

It came to a head on Sunday when a man armed with an assault rifle walked into a pizza parlour in Washington.

Edgar Welch, 28, said he wanted to ‘self-investigate’ false reports that the restaurant was involved in a paedophile ring run by Mrs Clinton and her husband Bill. Nobody was harmed but another pizza restaurant in New

‘Real world consequences’

York that the Clintons visited in the past has also been receiving death threats.

During a speech on Capitol Hill for outgoing Democratic Senate minority leader Harry Reid, Mrs Clinton said: ‘It’s now clear that so-called fake news can have real world consequences.

‘This isn’t about politics or partisanship. Lives are at risk. Lives of ordinary people just trying to go about their days, to do their jobs, contribute to their communities.

‘It’s imperative that leaders from the private sector and the public sector step up to protect our democracy and innocent lives.’

When confronted with the fake news problem, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg initially denied it had influenced the US election.

However, studies showed that fake news stories were the top trending items on its news feature, higher than real news stories, and the billionaire changed his mind.

Facebook and Google are said to be developing software that will automatically remove fake news, depriving its makers of the advertising revenue.