Internet culture

A Danish man was jailed for a week in Malaysia April 30 after pleading guilty to breaking a law against "fake news," the first person to be punished under the controversial legislation.

Shortly after 9 am, an anonymous male voice called to report that there was an explosive device around the St.George Church. Police teams i mmediately arrived on site but however, after the check, it turns out that the signal is fake.

The  press service in the Presidency has said the presidential administration has not stopped working.

It's a busy afternoon at Istanbul Modern, Turkey's premier modern art museum, and the gallery is packed with visitors taking selfies or discussing the artworks in hushed tones.

Do you think there will be a war?" people have been asking recently. Rumors or facts about updates to various emergency plans have dominated conversations around the country. The spread of such talk is damaging. The Greek economy is experiencing a fragile upswing and the tourism industry is very vulnerable to uncertainty.

Balkan countries are the most vulnerable in Europe to the "fake" news and post-truth phenomenon, a new report says, blaming media that are highly controlled by the state or business interests, educational deficiencies and low overall trust levels in society.

Those are the main conclusions of the Media Literacy Index compiled by the Open Society Institute, OSI, in Sofia.

The Malaysian government has proposed a law to combat "fake news" which could see offenders jailed for 10 years, sparking fears authorities aim to stifle criticism as elections loom.

With allegations of Russian interference and a flood of "fake news," the race for Mexico's presidential election is shaping up to look a lot like the last one in its giant northern neighbor, the United States.

Throughout the crisis, the Greek public has been bombarded with fake news and wacky theories.

Traditional media outlets have come under fire from anti-systemic political forces and citizens in a state of desperation have often preferred the "truth" peddled by conspiracy theorists and websites of an extreme populist bent.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg told The New York Times on Thursday that Macedonia had become involved in the spread of fake news.

Discussing the scandal involving British data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica obtaining access to more than 50 million Facebook users' data in 2014, he said: 

Greeks have among the highest rates of trust among Europeans in the platforms that spread the most fake news, namely online platforms and social media, according to the latest Eurobarometer survey, which interviewed around 26,000 citizens and was presented on Monday.