As the founder and writer of The Rapscallion and a concerned citizen, I think it’s time we did something about fake news and similar sites. Though I hope a headline like “‘Abominable Snowman Sues Yeti for $1 Billion, Claims Trademark Infringement And Complains of Cultural Appropriation’” would be pretty obviously fake news and very obviously not nefarious, I will include in my proposal even satirical, humorous news sites such as The Onion, Hard Times, and my own. For whatever reason, too many people can’t distinguish between what is fake and what is real anymore and, especially in the current political climate and during a pandemic, this can be dangerous—and even downright deadly.
Most people now get their news from the internet. And most people also know what “wtf,” “omg,” and “lol” mean. The prevalence and influence of .com as an extension make it all too easy for people to confuse deceptive and damaging content as the real deal. I propose that the internet Cerebruses ICANN and IANA work with website host providers to automatically change or re-route the domain extensions of fake news sites to .wtf, .omg, or .lol, depending on the nature of their content. So, for example, if a site promulgates conspiracy theories on vaccines, it would automatically receive the .wtf extension, even if its name was something really official sounding, like HarvardVaccineNews. Or, as another example, if a site proclaims that all hip hop artists are murderous thugs but go to heaven if they reach platinum, it would get .omg, even if it was named HipHopRealNews. Too many sites hide behind the anonymity of the internet as well as the cachet of the .com extension, which is by far the most used and most recognized. By using descriptive extensions such as .wtf, .omg. or .lol, the intention of the people behind these sites and the truth (or lack thereof) inherent in the content should be much more transparent.
Of course there would still be people who are confused or who simply don’t care. And some might even see these new domain extensions as yet another conspiracy, thereby making .hmm another necessary extension. But for everyone else, BleachandIvermectinCureCOVID.omg just won’t seem like an authoritative source of medical advice anymore. Frankly speaking, I would be ecstatic to have the first fake news site to undergo this transition. It would be an honor to be TheRapscallion.lol, especially because so many people visit my site and think that the Abominable Snowman is suing Yeti for $1 billion—but even worse and definitely more harmful to their being than believing it’s real news, they don’t find it funny. With the .lol there, I’d have the equivalent of a crew member on a sitcom who holds a sign that reads “LAUGH” so that the live studio audience (in this case, my site visitors) knows they should be busting their guts at my ridiculously funny “fake news with real bite.” (Though for the record, any visitor to my site should already know that my content is fake news with real bite as that incredibly clever and unbelievably hilarious tagline is emblazoned at the top of virtually every page.) As a writer, I’m flattered when people believe my Abominable Snowman story. Lol. On the other hand, I’m flattened when I see so many people hospitalized and dying needlessly because they refuse to be vaccinated after they’ve read (insert fake news site’s URL) story on Bill Gates putting tracking devices in vaccines. Wtf.
—The Rapscallion
