With a large concern of fake news being shared, everybody needs to remember not everything they disagree with is fake news. 

There is a clear line between fake news and the hard truth, and you cannot say something is fake just because you do not like it.

There has been a rise of fake news within the past four years. However, there has also been an increase of politicians and citizens denying real evidence and facts solely to support their political stance. 

A great example is when there have been false statements made by our president that get publicly corrected, many supporters decide to dismiss it as fake news.

At the beginning of the month, President Donald Trump made a statement on Twitter saying he would halt negotiations regarding the next COVID-19 relief check until after the elections, “when he wins.” 

A family member of mine posted, explaining this was ridiculous, and a known Trump supporter family friend instantly replied.

“Sorry..Trump has never said that..” their response read. 

As I responded “weird, because Trump literally tweeted this,” along with a screenshot of the tweet, their response immediately dismissed it as fake news.

Though Trump has since taken back that statement and pushed the fact he was willing to negotiate, the fact still stands true: at one point, he did make that statement. 

Just because the family friend disliked this does not mean it was fake news.

There are many ways to see if things are fake news or not. Many sources online are available, such as Twitter archives, fact-checking websites and public records.

Some websites are dedicated to being accurate archives for political figures’ tweets. 

Some may have a search bar along with categories of tweets, while others may just be a chronological timeline of published tweets. 

Many, if not all, include any and every tweet, even deleted ones.

Many websites are dedicated to being fact-checkers based on statements made on television, on social media and so on. 

The Berkeley Library website has a thorough list of fact-checking websites and their descriptions, and all of those listed are linked.

Coincidentally, the Washington Post has made a fact-checking service dedicated to one subject: how many lies Donald Trump has made. 

The last update was made on Aug. 27, and this database includes a graph, a “most repeated claims” section and an area to search topics within this database.

This fact-checking service lists individual false claims Donald Trump has made and explains why they are wrong along with sources for every explanation.

Public records are available that can disprove any fake news, as they are 100% accurate documents, recordings and other archival platforms.

Alongside these alternative sources, there are known unbiased newspapers across the nation. There are graphs online labeling different newspaper sources as left leaning, right leaning, or if they are unbiased.

Andrew Moshirnia from Monash University has published a paper on the Utah Law Review website titled, “Who Will Check the Checkers? False Factcheckers and Memetic Misinformation.” 

The paper covers what fact-checkers are, what may invalidate a fact-checking source and other related discussion points.

With all of these resources available, there is no excuse to either readily believe somebody or quickly accuse them of lying.

If you are getting in a Facebook comments section battle with that “typical blue-haired liberal” or “stubborn Boomer,” know that there will be facts you may not like brought up. 

Know that there is also a mass amount of misinformation shared by all political parties, but never claim a fact as false solely because it does not fit your narrative.