Conclusion

The advent of the internet and the proliferation of false news and misinformation occasioned by the increased use of social media platforms is a primary contemporary concern.  It fuels political polarisation and impacts a plethora of fundamental rights, including the right to freedom of expression, equality, and free and fair elections.  However, outside of a narrow band of legitimately proscribable  speech, the remedies to combat dis- and misinformation are, at this stage, largely social and educational.  MIL strategies and campaigns, coupled with fact-checking and the publication of counter-narratives, remain the primary vanguard in the fight for the truth.