What's happening?

Since the beginning of thinking itself, we have believed that we can arrive at truth by talking and reasoning with each other.

In the 1700s, some began to argue that this should include everyone, not just the wealthy and educated. They said that the more people spoke about a subject, the more likely it was that we would get to the truth. This idea is key to modern democracyA system of government based on the idea of rule by the people..

But some think democracy's strength can also be its weakness.

If people start to believe things that are false, then they are free to spread these ideas and the search for the truth is made much harder.

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ExpertsSomeone who knows a lot about a particular subject. warn there are many threatsSomething which is likely to cause danger. to truth. One of the biggest is false news spread on social media. Even though many people know about the problem, false news is still being shared online.

After Elon MuskA South African-born entrepreneur whose companies have included the online payment service PayPal. took over Twitter, the number of tweets sharing the false idea that climate changeLong-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Human action is a major cause of climate change. is not real rose by 30%.

Others say new technology is making it harder to work out what is true and what is false. Deep fakesWhen AI is used to make convincing fake video, audio and images., made by AIA computer programme that has been designed to think. , can make it look like politicians and celebrities have done or said things which did not happen in real life.

If these threats are not controlled, experts say, democracy could be in danger.

Yes! Democracy only works if we all agree on what is true and what is false. Without this, we cannot talk about the best ideas for the future.

No! It is too early to panic. People have always believed in things which are not true, and democracy is still here.