The Evolution of Fake News and the Abuse of Emerging Technologies

Abstract

Fake news and post-factual society are quite popular terms today. The literature is investigating this phenomenon from different perspectives. We also know the psychological dimension at the basis of fake news (Lynch M. 2016) and the debate around the need for a new media policy (Goodman E. 2017). However, something else is very important: the evolution process of fake news. Far from being a still life, fake news will evolve and this needs to be monitored closely. In a post-factual society fake news could be fuelled by the abuse of new powerful technologies (Murgia M. and Kuchler H. 2017).