The all-party parliamentary group on literacy heard evidence that fake news could make children more anxious, damage their self-esteem and skew their world view. In research for the report, the National Literacy Trust showed more than 2,000 UK eight to 16-year-olds six news stories, two of which were fake, and asked them to identify which were real and which were not. Only 2% got all six right. (BBC News, 13 June 2018)

This reinforces my contention that there should be no anonymity on the web. Everyone should be forced to be open and to have the courage to put their names to their views, like real men. Cowardice should not be rewarded! If someone is found to have spread unfounded rumours or fabricated “news” they should appear in a magistrates court and be heavily fined, if the magistrate deems the offense to be egregious. These purveyors of untruth are undoing our society and should be held to account. Ignoring it is not sn option.