With fake online news dominating discussions after the US election, Guardian correspondents explain how it is distorting politics around the world
The German political mainstream is getting increasingly nervous about the effect that the rise of fake news might have on federal elections next autumn. Fake news and Russian interference either by influencing fake news sites, or by hacking or misinformation are viewed as a serious threat to the democratic process, particularly since the US presidential elections.
From rumours that Merkel was in the east German secret police, the Stasi, to others suggesting she is Adolf Hitlers daughter, Germans are also proving themselves susceptible to false information.
The most blatant example of fake news to hit Germany so far occurred earlier this year over reports that a 13-year-old girl of Russian origin, known as Lisa F, had been raped in Berlin by refugees from the Middle East. The story received extensive coverage on Russian and German media who reported the allegations that she had been abducted on her way to school and gang-raped. The attack turned out to have been fabricated, as Berlins chief of police was quick to point out. According to Berlins public prosecutors office the girl had spent 30 hours with people known to her, and a medical examination proved she had not been raped.
But having been shared widely on social media and through Russian news sites, hundreds took to the streets to protest at the attack, along with far right and anti-Islam groups. Sergey Lavrov, Russias foreign minister went so far as to accuse Merkels government of sweeping the case under the carpet, heightening suspicions in Berlin that the Kremlin was deliberately trying to cause trouble.
There are suspicions that the story was spread in the first place by Russian elements keen to undermine the refugee policy of Angela Merkel. She is viewed as a key enemy to Russia over her tough stance on Ukraine. The ultimate aim is said to be to destabilise her domestically just as she has said she will stand for a fourth term in office.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/dec/02/fake-news-facebook-us-election-around-the-world