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The politicians stared in horror as Mathilde Panot held up a tube full of bed bugs. The insects, she claimed, were appearing "in all daily living spaces: hospitals, schools, workplaces, retirement homes, prisons, trains and even cinemas".

A "plagueA deadly disease that spreads between people." of bed bugs has caused panic in France. But Aldo Massaglia, who runs a Paris pest-control company, says there has been no big rise in cases.

Now it has been found out that fake stories about bedbugs have been spread on social media. French intelligence agents think that Russia is behind the fakes.

The stories look as if they have come from French newspapers. Two suggest that the bedbugs were brought by Ukrainian refugeesAnyone fleeing conflict or persecution is defined as a refugee by the UN as a refugee, regardless of where they are from.. But the newspapers say they are not real.

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After the HawaiiSituated in the Pacific Ocean, it was made a US state in 1959 and is the only island state. wildfires in August it was claimed that 2,000 children had gone missing. In fact 97 people went missing. Only one was a child.

In September reports suggested EbolaA highly infectious disease causing internal and external bleeding. A vaccine against it has recently been developed. had spread at a festival in the USA. This was supported by a "screenshot" of a document from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. But the screenshot was a fake.

Another story was about the death of Barack ObamaThe Democrat US president between 2008 and 2016.'s personal chef, Tafari Campbell, who was found drowned in July. When Obama was photographed with plasters on two of his fingers, it was suggested that he had injured them while murdering Campbell.

But Obama has been photographed with plasters on his fingers for years, because he often gets blisters from playing golf.

Yes! New technology means it is easier than ever before to spread false stories. By spreading stories about bedbugs, another country could seriously harm France's economyThe way that money flows through a country, which affects wages and the cost of living..

No! False news has always spread. It took place as long ago as the American RevolutionAn 18th Century war in which 13 British colonies in North America won independence and went on to form the USA. , when politicians shared false stories to make their enemies look bad.