Tackling fake news requires more than just legislation

ALTERNATIVE facts, fabricated news, falsehoods or dodgy narratives. If anything, 2017 has been the year when fake news hit the headlines, and for all the wrong reasons.

But fake news has been with us throughout history. During the first century BC, Roman politician and general Mark Anthony became a victim when he killed himself after hearing fake news that his lover Egypt's Queen Cleopatra had committed suicide.

The impact of anonymously hosted fake news often lacking known publishers has been no less dramatic in recent times. One only needs to watch the television or pick up a newspaper on any given day to read about how fake news had impacted real-world events.