The Fake News Epidemic: A False Tale for Democracy?

Alongside the recent Covid-19 outbreak we have seen a real fake news ep- idemic. Since the 2016 US presidential election, via WikiLeaks, Brexit, the Cambridge Analytical scandal and the Covid-19 vaccines debate, fake news has almost pervasively captured the attention of scholars. The alleged po- litical consequences on public debate have been crucial in many aspects. Hence, this paper evaluates the extent to which fake news can be a threat to the democratic public. Its contribution is twofold. First, it argues that a proper understanding of the problem would require a ‘dynamic’ account of fake news. Contrary to the collective wisdom that sees fake news as a fin- ished product, the paper suggests that the ‘fake’ of fake news can be defined by the selection-replication-mutation mechanisms of users. In addition, the paper claims that people’s moral commitments can play a more relevant role than mere partisanship in selection and diffusion of political fake news