Fake news websites are those which intentionally, but not necessarily solely, publish hoaxes and disinformation for purposes other than news satire. Some of these sites use homograph spoofing attacks, typosquatting and other deceptive strategies similar to those used in phishing attacks to resemble genuine news outlets.^[1][2][3]

Fake news sites deliberately publish hoaxes and disinformation to drive web traffic inflamed by social media.^[4][5][6] These sites are distinguished from news satire (which is usually intended to be humorous) as they mislead and sometimes profit from readers' gullibility.^[5] While most fake news sites are portrayed to be spinoffs of other news sites, some of these websites are examples of website spoofing, structured to make visitors believe they are visiting major news outlets like ABC News or MSNBC.^[7] The New York Times pointed out that within a strict definition, "fake news" on the Internet referred to a fictitious article which was fabricated with the deliberate motivation to defraud readers, generally with the goal of profiting through clickbait.^[8] PolitiFact described fake news as fabricated content designed to fool readers and subsequently made viral through the Internet to crowds that increase its dissemination.^[9]

The New York Times noted in a December 2016 article that fake news had previously maintained a presence on the Internet and within tabloid journalism in the years prior to the 2016 U.S. election.^[8] Except for the 2016 Philippine elections,^[10] prior to the election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, fake news had not impacted the election process and subsequent events to such a high degree.^[8] Subsequent to the 2016 election, the issue of fake news turned into a political weapon, with supporters of left-wing politics saying those on the opposite side of the spectrum spread falsehoods, and supporters of right-wing politics arguing such accusations were merely a way to censor conservative views.^[8] Due to these back-and-forth complaints, the definition of fake news as used for such polemics became more vague.^[8]

The following is a list of websites created by individuals (aside from those associated with corporations or political actors) that have been assessed by fact-checkers as fake news websites.

Examples of disinformation campaigns from companies include Eliminalia, a reputation management firm that created a network of over 600 websites for its clients,^[63][64] and Regency Enterprises, which created sites to promote the movie A Cure for Wellness.^[65][66]

Examples of countries with political actors that have been confirmed or suspected to be involved with fake news website networks include Brazil,^[67] India,^[68] Iran,^[3] Italy,^[69] the People's Republic of China,^[70] the Philippines,^[71] Russia,^[72] Ukraine (Luhansk),^[73] and the United States.^[74]

According to the Poynter Institute, there are four categories of false fact-checking websites:

1. Sites that are satirical in nature
2. Sites that attempt to subvert serious fact-checking sites
3. Sites that re-appropriate the term "fact-check" for partisan political causes
4. Sites with more violent intentions, such as genocide denial.^[75]

As of October 2024, NewsGuard has tracked at least 1,090 news/information websites automatically generated by machine learning models that span 16 languages.^[93]

The following table lists websites that have been both considered by fact-checkers as distributing false news and are run by organizations that have been designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as hate groups.

The following is a list of websites that have been characterized by journalists and researchers as promoting pseudoscience or junk science.

Numerous websites have been created by companies that contain satirical or news parody content that is intended to be or has been designated by fact-checkers as fake news.

Examples of countries with troll farms that have been confirmed or suspected to be involved with fake news website networks include Cambodia,^[277] Ghana,^[278] North Macedonia,^[279] the Republic of Georgia,^[280] and Russia.^[281]

The following table lists websites that have allowed users to generate their own hoaxes that appear in the form of news articles. While the stated purpose is for users to prank their friends, many of the resulting false stories have spread on social media and have led to harassment.^[282]

Many fake news websites can be assessed as likely being part of the same network campaign if some combination of the following are true:

• They share the same Google Analytics account^{[304][305][306]}
• They share the same Google AdSense account^{[304][305][54][306][307]}
• They share the same IP address(es)^[305][3]
• They share the same Gravatar ID^[277]
• They refer to each other's domains^[44]
• They publish the exact or near-exact same content,^[304] especially content that has been plagiarized from other sources^[54][64]
• They have the same or similar designs (layouts, bylines, privacy policies, "About" pages, etc.)^[304][306]
• They have the same owner(s) or hosting provider, based on domain registration information.^[305][54][3]

Used a technique called "domain hopping" - repeatedly switching domain names to stay ahead of advertising blacklists on social media.^[334][335]

The following article lists miscellaneous sites that are one-offs or otherwise lack information that would place them into one of the other categories above.

• Alternative facts – Expression associated with political misinformation established in 2017
• Big lie – Propaganda technique
• Chequebook journalism – Practice of news reporters paying sources for information
• Clickbait – Web content intended to entice users to click on a link
• Demoralization (warfare) – Warfare tactic used to erode morale
• Disinformation – Deliberately deceptive false information
• Echo chamber (media) – Situation that reinforces beliefs by repetition inside a closed system
• Fake news by country – False or misleading information presented as realPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
• Filter bubble – Intellectual isolation through internet algorithms
• Firehose of falsehood – Propaganda technique
• Journalism ethics and standards – Principles of ethics and of good practice in journalism
• Post-truth politics – Political culture where facts are considered irrelevant
• Pseudohistory – Pseudoscholarship that attempts to distort historical record
• Selective exposure theory – Theory within the practice of psychology
• Spiral of silence – Political science and mass communication theory
• Tabloid journalism – Style of largely sensationalist journalism
• Troll farm – People employed to post divisive content
• Yellow journalism – Sensationalistic news