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In this section:
1. What is sharing false information? |
2. What you can do: reporting it to us |
3. Reporting it to social media companies if it happened online |
4. Help and support |
Sharing false information is when someone creates or shares information that they know is false and they're distributing it to cause serious harm.
The false information could be sent to you or to a group of people, like a Facebook or WhatsApp group, it could be posted on a social media app or forum, or printed on a poster or flyer.
It could include things like someone:
False information can sometimes be called 'fake news', 'misinformation' or 'disinformation'. The thing that makes sharing false information a crime is if someone knows that the information they're creating or sharing is false and they're sharing it with the intention to cause serious physical or mental harm. Even if it only happens once, it's still a crime.
You might not be sure who sent the false information or what they intended when they sent it. That doesn’t matter, you can still report it to us and we’ll decide how to follow up on the details you give us.
Next: What you can do: reporting it to us