Have heard the story about those man-eating trees or about China’s plans to tear down the Great Wall? Don’t worry. They’re not true. They were fake news stories from the 19th century.

Fake news is probably as old as the printing press but it got renewed attention during this year’s heated presidential race.

On election night, the top Google search result for election returns was a fake news site with fake numbers.

Now, with more fake news stories coming from the right, some are wondering whether they helped propel Donald Trump into office. Social media outlets like Reddit, Twitter and Facebook are reconsidering their roles in policing fake news. 

For more, we turn to Washington Post reporter Abigail Ohlheiser, who wrote a series of recent columns called “What was fake on the Internet this election.”