(CNN) Hillary Clinton, speaking in public Thursday for one of the first times since losing the presidential election a month ago, called the proliferation of fake news "an epidemic."

So-called fake news -- often blatant falsehoods passed off online as the truth and spread by conspiracy theorists -- rose to prominence around the 2016 campaign and since Clinton's defeat millions have read "Pizzagate," a false report spread online that erroneously accused Clinton and her campaign of running a child sex ring at a pizza shop

Clinton said the spread of fake news, which has "flooded social media over the past year," is a trend that "can have real world consequences."

She made the comments at a portrait unveiling and retirement ceremony for outgoing Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid.

Clinton did not mention "Pizzagate," but her comments appeared to directly reference the fake news story that lead to a man with an assault rifle firing a shot in Comet Ping Pong, the Washington shop that has been falsely accused in the fake news stories.

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