The lie, a player in history

Fake news stuns political players and observers alike. But isn't it true that lies, whose definition is often relative, are part of history? Only knowledge, debate and argumentation can break down its damaging potential.

In 2018, apparently traumatized by attacks on his privacy, French President Emmanuel Macron—less than a year after taking office at the Élysée Palace—announced that he would introduce legislation aimed at combating the manipulation of information. In other words, a law against so-called “fake news,” which, thanks to social media, was said to be on the verge of undermining democratic life. Hadn’t its destructive power been demonstrated by Donald Trump’s excessive use of it since his election as President of the United States? The French National Assembly is moving quickly to...