The mastermind of fake Facebook news now worries he's why Donald Trump was elected
Paul Horner writes fake Facebook news for a living, and he's pretty sure he's one of the reasons President-elect Donald Trump won the election last week. In an interview with The Washington Post published Thursday, the 38-year-old admitted his tall tales "were picked up by Trump supporters all the time" — and often seemingly without any scrutiny.
"I think Trump is in the White House because of me. His followers don't fact-check anything — they'll post everything, believe anything," Horner said. "His campaign manager [Corey Lewandowski] posted my story about a protester getting paid $3,500 as fact. Like, I made that up." Horner said he starting writing these fake stories just to "make fun of that insane belief" that people were being paid to protest Trump — but then, he said, "it took off." With Trump now poised to assume the White House in January, Horner is trying to come to terms with the fact that his scheme backfired bigly:
Still, it seems Horner doesn't feel guilty enough to give up his livelihood: He's already talking about ways to get around Facebook and Google's recently announced plans to block fake news sites from generating ad revenue. Right now, Horner said, he's making "like $10,000 a month" from the Google ad placement service, AdSense.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Read the interview in full over at The Washington Post.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The drive behind Germany's pro-Israel political consensus
Under the Radar Belief that Israel's security is a 'raison d'etre for the German republic' is under growing pressure
By The Week UK Published
-
'The House under GOP rule has become a hostile workplace'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
The Shohei Ohtani gambling scandal is about more than bad bets
In The Spotlight The firestorm surrounding one of baseball's biggest stars threatens to upend a generational legacy and professional sports at large
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Justice Department bites Apple with iPhone suit
Speed Read The lawsuit alleges that the tech company monopolized the smartphone industry
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
House votes to force TikTok to sell or face US ban
speed read The House passed a bill to ban TikTok on national security grounds unless it sells to a non-Chinese company
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Apple kills its secret electric car project
Speed Read Many of the people from Project Titan are being reassigned to work on generative AI
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Cellphone use may be lowering sperm count
Speed Read Electromagnetic radiation could be affecting male fertility
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Nasa reveals first findings from asteroid that could explain origins of life
Speed Read Sample from Bennu has been found to contain an abundance of water and carbon
By Jamie Timson, The Week UK Published
-
NYPD to monitor Labor Day parties using surveillance drones
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Elon Musk announces change to Twitter logo
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Twitter has reportedly threatened to sue Meta over Threads
Speed Read
By Brigid Kennedy Published