Social media is a pernicious spreader of disinformation. The 45th president of the US used it to his advantage. Never has the prevalence of conspiracy theories been so widespread than during the rule of Donald Trump and Trumpism. Though these wacky theories have always existed, social media provided the ultimate channel for the superspreading of insidious disinformation.

Imagine then the horror of the young, unnamed privileged millennial protagonist of Lauren Oyler’s debut novel, Fake Accounts, when she discovers while scrolling through her boyfriend’s phone that Felix has a secret life as an online conspiracy theorist...

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