Hillary Clinton Says 'Lives Are at Risk' Because of Fake News (Video)

Hillary Clinton thinks fake news is “a danger that must be addressed” because “lives are at risk.”

Clinton said during her speech at an event for Harry Reid on Thursday that the spread of “false propaganda” impacts both Democrats and Republicans.

“It’s now clear that so-called fake news can have real world consequences. This isn’t about politics or partisanship. Lives are at risk,” Clinton said.

Also Read: Media Matters Shifts Focus From Fox News to Fake News, 'Alt-Right' Sites

“It’s a danger that must be addressed, and addressed quickly. Bipartisan legislation is making its way through Congress to boost the government’s response to foreign propaganda, and Silicon Valley is starting to grapple with the challenge and threat of fake news,” Clinton said. “It’s imperative that leaders in both the private sector and the public sector step up.”

Last month, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg outlined his plan to fight fake news being spread on Facebook. Zuckerberg initially downplayed the criticisms that fake news being spread on his social media site could have contributed significantly to swaying the 2016 presidential election, but later made concessions to the contrary.

Made-up news has been such a problem across the media landscape that Media Matters, a liberal media-watchdog organization known for its fixation on Fox News, recently announced that fake news will now be its prime target.

“There was a period of time which we were, rightfully so, described as the ‘Fox antagonist’s,” incoming Media Matters president Angelo Carusone told Politico. “Now, our mission is to be principally focused on the value of journalism.”

Watch the video above.

10 Times Donald Trump Shared Fake News (Photos)

Donald Trump is the country's most prominent spreader of fake news. Here are ten unquestionably fake news stories he has shared.
Getty Images
In 2009, Trump helped create fake news when the USA Network and WWE falsely reported that Trump was planning to buy "Monday Night RAW." It turned out that it was all part of a wrestling storyline.
Trump spent years demanding that President Obama produce his birth certificate and other papers in response to false e-mails that Obama was a Kenyan-born Muslim. He finally admitted Obama was born in this country in September, then accused Hillary Clinton of starting the lies about Obama.
In December 2011, Trump said President Obama "issued a statement for Kwanza but failed to issue one for Christmas." That was provably false. (This photo is from 2014.)
Trump said in 2015 that "thousands and thousands of people were cheering" in Jersey City, N.J. when the World Trade Center fell on Sept. 11, 2011. Although some radio stations and websites reported celebrations in nearby Paterson, N.J., the city denied the reports.
In February 2016, Trump entertained conspiracy theories that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was murdered when he said he was found with "a pillow on his face." Alex Jones' InfoWars had earlier reported on suggestions Scalia was killed. But the owner of the ranch where Scalia died later clarified that he did not have a pillow over his face.
In June 2016, Trump tweeted a photo that purported to show a family of African-Americans who supported him. But they told BuzzFeed they definitely did not.
Twitter
In another case of Trump creating the fake news, he scored 22,000 retweets on Election Day by posting, "Just out according to @CNN: 'Utah officials report voting machine problems across entire country.'" But it was just one county. No R.
On Nov. 10, Trump tweeted that post-Election Day protestors were “professional,” but a professional fake-news writer, Paul Horner, admitted that he had invented a story about protesters being paid.

Getty Images
After saying for months before election day that the vote would be rigged, Trump won. He subsequently said “million of people” voted illegally. A guy on Twitter who had tweeted that 3 million voted illegally declined to provide any source. Trump has continued to make baseless claims about millions of illegal voters since he took office.
YouTube
Let's give credit where its due: On Dec. 6, Trump fired one of his transition team staffers for tweeting a fake news story that led to an armed confrontation in a Washington, DC pizza restaurant. The issue became known as "pizzagate."
On his first full day in office, Trump visited the Central Intelligence Agency and claimed 1.5 million people attended his inauguration. The New York Times said that photographs "disproved" that number. Vox did a deep dive into why Trump's numbers appeared to be off. And a Texas NHL team, among others, made fun of him.
Feel free to bookmark this gallery. We have a feeling we'll be updating it.