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What to believe? Perspectives on fake news and misinformation

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Since the dawn of human civilisation conspiracy theories and misinformation have been used as a tool by those wielding power and influence to motivate and mislead. History is replete with memorable examples, from the propaganda campaigns deployed by Octavian, the future Emperor Augustus, to consolidate power and win the last of the Roman civil wars, to the use of the printing press in England in the mid-1700s to spread fake stories about King George II’s health during the height of the Jacobite rebellion.

In recent years, the term ‘fake news’ became mainstream during the 2016 US presidential election campaign during which hundreds of websites published falsified or biassed stories, capitalising on social media advertising revenue. States or their proxies also frequently engage in misinformation campaigns to attempt to gain strategic advantage. North Korea has been implicated in widespread cyber disinformation attacks, while pro-Kremlin actors are known to be responsible for the dissemination of media content intended to control the narrative around Russia’s military actions in Ukraine.

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Closeup of paper in a typewriter with ‘Fake News’ typed in big, bold letters

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