Fake news, he warned in his latest blog post, was much more insidious than real news.

“I’ve said this before and I will say it again – verify your source of news information before you vilify. It is very unfortunate to know that many people still cling to mistaken beliefs and theories that could even be decades old!” he said.

He added: “Fabricated news stories and irresponsible online news sources spread misinformation in order to mislead and/or make money when others click on the site or article.”

He quoted an analysis by BuzzFeed, a leading independent digital media company, as reporting that hoaxes about the US politics were among the top-performing fake news content on Facebook in 2016.

BuzzFeed news media editor Craig Silverman said 23 of the 50 top-performing fake news hoaxes found on Facebook were focused on US politics.

Salleh quoted Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg as saying: “The bottom line is, we take misinformation seriously. Our goal is to connect people with the stories they find most meaningful, and we know people want accurate information.”

In that same post, he said, Zuckerberg shared how the Facebook community could help Facebook understand what was fake and what was not.

“In using social media and other communication platforms, we need to be responsible users, so don’t be too quick to hit the Share, Forward or RT button without verifying the piece of news,” Salleh advised.