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Don't Fall for Phony Online Rumors with These Tips

From archiving web pages to spotting AI-generated pics, these tools will help guard you against bogus social media posts.

Published April 2, 2024

 (Getty Images)
Image courtesy of Getty Images

To mark International Fact-Checking Day on April 2, the Snopes newsroom compiled some tricks of the trade.

Below, you can learn how to perform reverse-image searches, spot deepfake videos, identify photos that were created using artificial intelligence (AI) software — and more. These are tips our professional fact-checkers use daily to determine whether viral rumors are factual or misleading, and they can help you be a smarter consumer of information online.

What is International Fact-Checking Day? The concept surfaced in 2014 during a gathering of journalists and professional researchers at the London School of Economics, USA Today reported. That group eventually formed Poynter's International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), a consortium of news outlets and advocates against online misinformation. Snopes is an IFCN signatory.

Learn more about Snopes' fact-checking process, including how readers' inquiries drive our efforts. Think you've come across a suspicious rumor while scrolling? Drop us a line. We'll try to look into it.

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Jessica Lee is Snopes' Senior Assignments Editor with expertise in investigative storytelling, media literacy advocacy and digital audience engagement.