5 tips to debunk online rumors

Simple reflexes for any online reading

Social media and mailboxes on the front lines

Who has never received on their inbox or Facebook account "super-trick-easy to apply to a smart system that police police-torture-pass under silence"? With the development of the Internet, blogs, social networks, Internet users every day are faced with dozens or even hundreds of information ... false, but nevertheless similar to the real one. The world of roads and bikers is no exception to the rule. Among this constant stream are rumors of next-generation radars or advice not to lose points on your driver's license. The stories have often been shared tens of thousands of times, which are just hoaxes. Having adopted a few reflexes, this false news is fairly easy to spot. We give you some tips to find them before you hit the Share button.

1) Check information

This is the first thing to do. It should be assumed that any information disseminated by an unknown person is false. And if your friend shared it, that doesn't mean it's true either. In general, widespread rumors are about hot topics, such as new driving license laws, or special days when the gendarmerie would set staggering quotas for drawing up photovoltaic licenses. Go to news sites specializing in cars, motorcycles, and road news in general that also hunt down rumors. If the information is correct, there is a good chance you will find an article there on several reliable relays.

2) Check sources

The source is the person to whom the media provide information. Those who write false information often use very vague sources. The beginning of a sentence like “A friend told me this”, “A friend who works in the gendarmerie sent me this message” should definitely warn you. An example with this text about a mandatory medical examination every 5 years for a new driver's license in CB format.

Friends and families hold your rose permit well

Because if you request a new CB style format, it will renew every 5 years after a medical examination, so think carefully,

current Rose UNLIMITED

I am transmitting, but also, I have checked and it is true.

Don't change your pink sesame!

One of my acquaintances asked to replace his old pink cardboard driver's license.

In return, he got a new permit for a life-size magnetic card or credit card.

But it is valid for 5 years !!

To renew it, you must undergo a mandatory medical examination every 5 years ...

So if you have health problems keep your old cardboard license which is unlimited !!

According to this rumor, the source is "friend". Without a name or other specific indication, this information is likely to be false. For subjects where the rights of road users will be changed, like here, motorcycle associations or motorists' associations will not be able to alert the media and public opinion!

Also watch out for parody sites that use journalistic codes to broadcast false news. Often released in a humorous tone, they are naturally perceived in the second degree. In case of doubt, a little research of the media in question will dispel or confirm suspicions. Sometimes some information is even transmitted by the media, which did not necessarily take the time to apply the first rule of this article, which is to verify the information!

Finally, some sites suggest making false information yourself. For example, on flash-info.org you can read an article about a motorist who allegedly sowed Renault 21 Gendarmerie bikers. A quick reading of the text allows you to see that there is nothing serious and that this is a joke.

On Sunday, as rain ropes were running in the southwest, a motorized brigade crosses the car, driving very fast on the road, as soon as the gendarmes pass, turn around to catch up and stop it to continue the protocols, except that the car is going very fast ...

A few kilometers later and with difficulty they arrived at the car level, it was at this point that they realized that it was nothing more than ... Renault 21 2L Turbo, a car that some BRIs also had a few years ago. This is followed by a chase, the driver obviously does not intend to stop and takes all the risks to escape from the bikers who, after kilometers, could not catch up with Renault in a series of turns and lost the track. One of the gendarmes tells us not to remember how once he gave up the chase because of the speed of the car, ”“ once we even caught up with the Ferrari F430! But there was nothing we could do ... "

The gendars suspect that they will long remember this failure and this man aboard his R21!

Despite the construction of approximate sentences, spelling errors, this story was repeatedly shared on social networks and in some forums. Even if we have no doubts about the power of the Renault 2's 21L turbo engine, there is little chance that this will be true ...

3) Consult sites specialized in hoax research

These sites are your best allies in tracking down false information. Journalists are becoming more and more attentive to rumors. An example with Decodex of the World, which allows you to check its sources by copying the link into a special search bar. For the story just above, a copy of the address confirms that the site is not to be taken seriously.

Some sites specialize in tracking false information, such as Hoaxbuster, the most famous. A quick pass on this site allows you to find all the rumors circulating on the Internet. You can suggest news via email or social media so that it can be reviewed by the community that runs the site.

4) Check the publication dates of the information

Sometimes a simple date allows you to put your finger on false information. In general, these are always the same rumors that come back from year to year. However, they always remain on social networks, since the more information is shared, the more visible it is, even if it is several years old. Some rumors are over ten years old, but sometimes they are updated to make it true. However, they remain hoaxes that should not be taken seriously.

5) Google is your friend!

When faced with questionable information circulating on social media, one of the easiest controls is to search for it on Google. Copy one or two sentences into the text and use the search function of the search engine. You will likely see information popping up on many sites that work to show that it is false. You can also find an image by simply right-clicking on the corresponding photo. One of the more recurring examples of hijacked images is the hidden radars that are believed to be present on our roads. These photos are being shared en masse to defend against tickets in an attempt to gain the advantage of the police. One of the most famous, which most often returns to social media, is a radar photograph hidden on a security slide, presumably located in the south of France.

There is no bowl. Next to being checked on Google Images, this "slide radar" is located in Switzerland. It is actually a cage connected to a real box, anchored a few meters earlier (and visible) to the side of the road. It has been circulating on the Internet since 2007, but continues to deceive some people who continue to share it daily on their blogs and social networks, like many other fake stories.