Why do people fall for fake news?

People have been telling tall tales for centuries. Some of these stories may just be exaggerated versions of the truth, or they can be outright fabrications.

Still, most people tend to have an inbuilt lie-detector and know when to take outlandish claims with a pinch of salt. But on social media, it appears that many users somehow accept as true all sorts of wild claims.

Take for example, a TikTok video that said a solar eclipse would leave Earth in darkness for up to five days. Or what about cancer-killing pineapple water? These are among the many rumours that have been making the rounds over the past year.

So why do people believe in news that obviously sounds fake? We will look into it in this edition of Fact Focus.