Less than two years ago, the term "fake news" was not
recognised by the majority of people. Although a tool used by
governments and powerful individuals for centuries to spread
disinformation, boost their support and quash dissenters, the term
came to prominence in the US Presidential election of 2016,
primarily as a means by which Donald Trump could dispel any
negative story about his campaign.
With the rising growth, ease of access and power of social media
"fake news" has never been easier to spread. Such is its
acceptance in our vocabulary that the term was named 2017's
word of the year. According to BBC research, the term "fake
news" has been used about two million times on Twitter in the
first three weeks of 2018 and a Google News search throws up around
five million results. Even the UK Government has an open inquiry,
being run by the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee,
looking at the impact fake news has on public understanding of the
world.
