There, in my Facebook feed was a great example of a growing problem that can take a hold right here in Natchez — false information labeled as news.

A friend posted the item after being purportedly outraged because “California’s governor just signed a law that will require all students to learn Spanish. Are you brave enough to share the word? This is America! We will not stand for it!”

The picture of the alleged California governor accompanying the post clearly was not California’s governor, Jerry Brown. That was the first clue I had the post might be fake.

Actually, the man pictured was Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, I learned with a simple Google search. I also learned the post is a well-known fake meme making the rounds. It originated sometime in May by a well-known purveyor of false information.

A couple of people had commented on my friend’s post, expressing outrage and disgust that such a law would be passed because this is America and our language is English.

Fine and good. Perhaps a law like that should provoke outrage. However, none of it was true, from the picture of the governor to the purported law he was passing.

I couldn’t help myself, so I posted a link in the comments to the debunking website Snopes.com that shows the story was false.

To their credit, a couple of the commenters on my friend’s post who had expressed outrage, expressed relief to find out the story was not true and thanked me for pointing out that it was fake.

My friend, however, never acknowledged the comment and left his post up.

That is fine. I know his politics and I love him just the same.

It makes me wonder, though, about the motives of people who frequently post such false items.

Yes, I’ve accidentally posted false pieces in the past, as have most people on Facebook, but after learning the truth, I quickly removed them or retracted them and the couple of times I accidentally did it, it taught me to check things out before posting them.

For some people, however, I think they are just unaware it is fake and want to believe it. Some others, though, I believe know what they are posting is fake, but they want to spread the misinformation for one reason or another. Perhaps it is a way for them to express some hidden animosity or belief they could not express any other way.

Why harbor and foment animosity and outrage over something that isn’t even true? Aren’t there plenty of actual issues and causes about which to be outraged?

I used to let false posts like that go without calling them out, and I do feel a little bit like a ninny for pointing out the fallacy.

However, I believe it is important, because as a couple of his friends who commented on that expressed, they were outraged by the content and were relieved to find out it wasn’t true.

As someone who has spent 30 years in the real news business, I know how difficult real news organizations — whether it is The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal or The Natchez Democrat — work to vet and source real news, and it breaks my heart a little each time I see someone passing off false information as news to spread misinformation for whatever reason. Verify before you post. Snopes.com is good starting point.

Falsehoods should be called out for what they are every time we see them.

Scott Hawkins is editor of The Natchez Democrat. Reach him at 601-445-3540 or scott.hawkins@natchezdemocrat.com.