## Did you know that...

...fake news is not new? In the sixth century AD, Procopius of Caesarea (~500-554 AD) was the principal historian of Byzantium (now Istanbul). After the death of Emperor Justinian, Procopius used fake news to discredit the old Emperor. As he was dead, there could be no questioning or investigation. In these times, as there was no means to validate and verify the authenticity of the information, any challenge to authority was classed as treason! In the 20th century there was an increase in the presence of misinformation in newspapers but with the rise of the internet and then social media, the level of fake news has multiplied! A study by the Central Statistics Office estimates that 62% of all information on the internet is unreliable, with around 20% of people believing in the fake news.