How Can You Tell If Something Online Is True?

Imagine you see a post online that says:

“Scientists discover a living dinosaur in Australia!”

There is a photograph. There are hundreds of comments. Thousands of people have shared it.

It looks convincing.

But is it true?

The internet gives us access to an incredible amount of information. We can learn about black holes, watch animals on the other side of the world and find the answer to a question in seconds.

There's just one problem.

Not everything online is true.

Fortunately, you can learn to become an information detective.

Start With the Source

Whenever you find an interesting claim, ask:

Who is telling me this?

Look at the website, account or person who published the information. Is it a museum, university, science organisation, government agency or another source you recognise? Does the article tell you who wrote it?

A professional-looking website isn't automatically trustworthy. Almost anyone can create a website or social media account.

That's why checking where information came from is one of your most useful detective tools.

Look for Evidence

Suppose someone posts:

“A new planet has been discovered next to Earth!”

That's an extraordinary claim. So where is the evidence?

Reliable information often explains how something is known. A science article might mention an experiment, observations from a telescope or research carried out by scientists.

Be cautious when something makes an enormous claim but provides no evidence at all.

Words such as “Scientists say...” aren't enough by themselves.

Which scientists? What did they discover? Where is the research?

Good information should give you somewhere to keep investigating.

Check More Than One Place

One of the easiest ways to investigate a claim is to see whether other reliable sources are reporting the same thing.

If astronomers really discovered something astonishing in our Solar System, for example, you would probably expect major scientific organisations to be talking about it too.

Search for the claim somewhere else.

If the only places repeating the story are copying one another, you haven't necessarily found several sources. You may have found one claim being repeated many times.

Think of it as following footprints. Ten footprints don't mean ten dinosaurs were walking through the mud. They might all belong to the same dinosaur.

Watch Out for Big Emotions

Some online content is designed to make you react before you think.

“THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING!”

“You won't believe what scientists found!”

“Share this before it gets deleted!”

A dramatic headline doesn't automatically mean something is false, but it is a good reason to slow down.

Ask yourself: Is this trying to inform me, or is it mainly trying to make me click, panic, become angry or immediately share it?

Strong emotions can make people less likely to stop and investigate.

Photographs Aren't Proof

Seeing used to feel a lot like believing.

Today, that's much trickier.

Photographs can be cropped, edited, taken out of context or generated by artificial intelligence. A real photograph can even be paired with a completely false story.

If you see an incredible image, don't just investigate the picture. Investigate the claim attached to it.

Where did the image originally come from? Do reliable sources show the same event? Does the description match what is actually happening?

Check the Date

Sometimes information isn't false. It's simply old.

An article written years ago might be shared as though something happened yesterday. Scientific understanding can also change when researchers discover new evidence.

Before sharing something surprising, check when it was published and whether newer information is available.

Facts and Opinions Aren't the Same Thing

A fact is something that can be checked against evidence.

Earth travels around the Sun.

An opinion expresses what someone thinks or feels.

Saturn is the most beautiful planet.

You don't need scientific evidence to prefer Saturn!

Problems begin when opinions are presented as though they are proven facts. Learning to recognise the difference helps you understand what you're actually reading.

Become an Information Detective

You don't need to distrust everything you see online. You simply need to develop the habit of checking before believing and sharing.

Remember these five questions:

Who created it?
What evidence do they provide?
Can I confirm it somewhere reliable?
Is anything trying to make me react without thinking?
Is the information current?

The internet contains an enormous library of human knowledge, but it also contains mistakes, jokes, advertisements, opinions, old information and things people have simply made up.

The clever part isn't knowing everything.

It's knowing when to stop, ask questions and investigate.

And once you start doing that, you're no longer just scrolling through information.

You're thinking like a researcher.

Privacy Policy Terms & Conditions Refund & Digital Products Policy