��ѿ��ý

Available for over a year

Fake news is nothing new – but in the age of social media, does it pose new problems? The US presidential election saw stories spread of the Pope supporting Trump for president and Hillary Clinton selling arms to ISIS, in examples of what is now widely known as “fake news”. Untrue stories being used in an attempt to influence election results is nothing new – October 1924 saw the publication of the 'Zinoviev letter', a forgery intended to smear the Labour government. But in the age of social media, what we now call “fake news” can be spread further and faster than ever before. The Westminster Hour’s John Beesley looks at the history of fake news and asks if, and how, it can be tackled.