Recently, a mass shooting took place in Las Vegas, killing more than 50 and injuring over 500. With the attack came a flood of reports to every news source, from the LA Times to online platforms such as Google and Facebook. And growing rapidly with the number of articles were the numerous false stories in the mix that went as far as to point the finger at the wrong suspect. Fake news has become more and more prevalent, and this recent happening in the wake of the Las Vegas massacre is another to add to the long list of failures by large online companies to provide their users with the most accurate and up-to-date information.

When questioned, Google claimed that the fake news was able to slip under their radar because their algorithm did not detect the deception. The stories varied, with linked sites leading to articles full of conspiracy theories. A number of these were from 4chan, an online forum based around anonymity where members are notorious for widespread online pranks and misinformation. Many of the articles accused an innocent man, Geary Danley, who was the ex-husband of the shooter’s out-of-town girlfriend. Death threats were sent to his family and online; vengeance and anger rained.

This is not the first occurrence of fake news contaminating the public’s view. During the 2016 election, Facebook and Twitter were both suspected of being platforms for Russian groups to influence voters by posing as Americans to promote and spread false news against the Democrats. These events have caused many to call for tech companies to have better policing of the content they provide. While it has been suggested that corporations should hire real people to filter and sort through published news to find the most relevant and helpful examples, Facebook has pushed back against the criticism, claiming that the sheer volume of content that comes in every day is too difficult and expensive to moderate on a daily basis. Despite the numerous apologies, there is little Facebook has done to change their methods, mostly just immediate damage control on the false Vegas news and tweaks to their sorting technique. On the other hand, Google has been more responsive to the situation. Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai says that his company should accept the responsibility of the damage the false news had caused. Pichai stated, “I feel the pain, and I think we should be held accountable.”

As of now, the danger of misinformation still looms. Until the problem is solved, one should be careful of the news they get from the internet and less reputable sources.