New Browser Game Helps Players Fight Fake News

The University of Cambridge has created a new browser game called Bad News to help players detect and combat fake news.

Bad News is a game built around the fake news epidemic where misleading stories and questionable sources are used to garner an impressive following on social media. In the browser game, Bad News shows players just how easy it is to start gaining attention with false or sensationalized information.

The description of Bad News found in the game's about page shares more info about the game's premise and the waves of fake news that players will have to sift through.

"In this game you take on the role of fake news-monger. Drop all pretense of ethics and choose the path that builds your persona as an unscrupulous media magnate. But keep an eye on your 'followers' and 'credibility' meters. Your task is to get as many followers as you can while slowly building up fake credibility as a news site. But watch out: you lose if you tell obvious lies or disappoint your supporters."

When playing Bad News, even the most obvious questions may trip players up if they aren't careful. After playing through it briefly to see what some of the questions looked like, the small details like a Twitter account using the name "Trunp" instead of "Trump" are very real possibilities that'll be lost in a stream of tweets when someone's casually browsing online, oversights that'll quickly assist in the spread of misinformation.

Speaking with BBC, Dr. Sander van der Linden, the director for the University of Cambridge Social Decision-Making Laboratory and one of the creators of the game, explained what they're trying to accomplish with Bad News.

"These techniques are out there, they are being used by real people," van der Linden said. "What we're trying to do is demystify and illuminate what these techniques are, how to spot them, how to recognise them, and not be influenced by them."

Van der Linden said that the game also makes an effort to round questions out with views and personalities that make up both the right and left-wing paths so as not to be biased towards one direction or the other.

Bad News is free to play through your browser by visiting this site.