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It’s been a year filled with lies, rumours and online deception. ´óÏó´«Ã½ Trending looks back on a tumultuous 12 months which have seen the tide of disinformation reach dizzying new heights.

From the global pandemic to the US election, the extraordinary events of the past year have been shaped by the online spread of falsehoods, propaganda and bizarre conspiracy theories.

This was the year in which QAnon moved from the fringes of the internet to the political mainstream, and all sorts of shadowy forces were blamed for the damage caused by Covid-19.

In the US, conspiracy theories about voting and fraud came from the very top. We also heard about misinformation in Ethiopia, misinformation about the Beirut blast, and fake political videos in Cambodia.

Stung by years of criticism, social media companies also took unprecedented action to try to stem the flow of disinformation, even when it came from the US president.

But did their actions have an impact – and how can we all slow the tide of viral misinformation in the year ahead? We hear about some potential solutions.

Presented by Marianna Spring and Mike Wendling.