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Fake News sites use Facebook to spread Ebola threats

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ANI Washington
Last Updated : Oct 23 2014 | 3:40 PM IST

New findings have revealed that many 'fake' news website have been using Facebook to spread terrorizing Ebola threats.

These sites claim to be satirical but lack even incompetent attempts at anything resembling humor.

They're actually fake news sites, posting scary stories and capitalizing on the decontextualization of Facebook's news feed to trick people into sharing them widely, The Verge reported.

However, it's proving to be a very successful strategy, particularly for a site called the National Report, which saw its traffic spike to 2 million unique visitors yesterday according to Quantcast. Very few are repeat visitors, meaning they're just seeing the link on Facebook and clicking, the report said.

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First Published: Oct 23 2014 | 3:28 PM IST

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