Fake News Is Everywhere: Beware!
Social media has made it possible for us/to obtain information for free.// But there is a pitfall:/there’s a lot of fake news,/or misinformation,/on social media.// How can we cope with it?//
1
　　In March 2020,/the Covid-19 epidemic was just beginning.// In front of a supermarket in Tokyo,/more than 20 people were lined up/waiting for the store to open.// Paper products such as toilet paper and tissues/sold out in five minutes.//
　　During that week,/there were over 200,000 Twitter posts/mentioning the words “toilet paper,”/“out of stock” and “shortage.”// People thought protective masks were made of paper/and worried that the rush to make masks/would take up Japan’s entire wood supply.// Images of empty store shelves appeared on TV/and people were passing on the message:/“Following the shortage of sanitizers and masks,/toilet paper is running out.”//
　　Finally,/one shop owner put up a sign reading,/“The rumor that there will be shortages of paper products/is a lie.”//
　　That shop owner was correct:/The rumor was fake news.// With a quick search on the Internet,/anyone could have found a message/from the Japan Paper Association/that there was no shortage of toilet paper.//
　　How could the idea of a shortage/have spread to so many people so quickly?// The answer:/It spread very quickly throughout the country/on social media.//