1/8 *HOW TO CHECK A WEBSITE IS LEGIT*

Lots of misinformation isn’t necessarily from an obviously fake website. It’s really important that you’re able to tell the difference between a dodgy website and a trustworthy one!

2/8 Two types of misinformation websites (v broadly): fake websites pretending to be more reliable ones & websites that look independent and legitimate on their own terms but are actually peddling dodgy info

3/8 First: spot the difference here! One @guardian website is real, one is fake! @GetNewsWise can help you here too.

4/8 How do you tell that the website is run by the people it claims to run it?

1. Look at the URL/link - is it the website it says it is?

2. Look for a padlock/https - it tells you if the site is ‘secure’ - every trustworthy site will be secure. If not, it's a red flag!

5/8 Padlocks/a website being ‘secure’ doesn’t mean that it's reliable.

@elonmusk had this story written about him on this website pretending to be @CNN. But the story is fake and the website is a fraud - it’s not @cnntech’s website, check the URL

6/8 We know the website is dodgy, but how would we verify the story is fake?

*THE SEARCH BAR!* See this thread for more info https://twitter.com/TSV_ORG/status/1242776995039191041

7/8 When the website looks more trustworthy but you don’t know it well, the search bar is your friend again - you can use it to check out not only the site, but also the story!

8/8 Lastly, other steps you can take:

Talk to the organisation the website is pretending to be. They’ll be keen to know - they can counter misinformation about themselves v effectively.

Send the link or screenshot to a journalist - they can help debunk it