East Europeans Who Lived Under Communism Know All About Fake News

The proposal of Senator Angus King (I-ME) during the recent Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Google, Facebook, and Twitter bears some weight. Mr. King suggested that Eastern Europe has developed a natural barrier to block propaganda and that Americans should learn from their experience. Indeed, what “fake news” is for the U.S. is “old news” in Eastern Europe. While obviously not immune, in the past century the former communist countries found ways to read (and write) between the lines.