The US election has, once again, be plagued by a tide of disinformation and fake news. But don’t point the finger at Russia, Iran, or China. With four days left to vote in the presidential election, American politics has become so polarised that the threat of foreign interference pales in comparison to our own domestic untruths.
For months, we’ve been battling falsehoods about the safety and security of mail-in balloting, which president Trump shares with hundreds of millions of social media followers. He has also shared tweets suggesting Osama bin Laden is not dead, and refused to disavow the QAnon conspiracy theory, which a new poll finds half of his supporters believe. Regardless of who occupies the White House in January 2021, the tide of fake news is here to stay. But if America wants to learn how to tackle the nonsense, it should take a look at its old ally.
It’s true that, in Britain, 5G conspiracy theorists have popped up during the coronavirus pandemic.
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