ABSTRACT
Since antiquity, the construction and spreading of fake news as tools to manage political affairs and create consensus is widely used: fake news is information that imitates standard forms of communication without providing the audience information to cross reference its accuracy and reliability.
Fake news is used in other contexts, such as creating or reinforcing prejudices toward ethnic or religious groups, vaccination, with serious, let alone tragic effects.
The reasons for the increasing spread of fake news are discussed, making reference to viral use of electronic media.
The chapter concludes with the history of Charlatans and the often-difficult task of distinguishing their work from that of licensed doctors.
