Truth is one of the first concepts analysed, discussed and argued by mankind, in philosophy, theology, and also in politics, as it creates the basis for a democracy. Everything revolves around truth, as it stabilizes the value of things. The adjective true has a positive connotation and is associated with the concepts of authenticity, purity, sincerity, and objectivity. In contrast, the adjective false describes something that is commonly considered wrong, not right, dangerous, inconsistent, or simply not true. Truth serves to educate individuals; it is the basis of human knowledge and thus enables the subsequent development of human beings. Truth creates certainties, falsehood creates illusions. We are currently living in what is called the Post-Truth-era. As claimed by the philosopher Lee McIntrye (2022) “There has been a moment in recent history in which we, as a society - even more as a species – decided that there are situations, in our political, social and cultural life, in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion”. The Post-Truth world is the world in which Digital Technology has been one of the main figures in weaponizing the primacy of emotion over fact. This website tries to explain the Post-Truth phenomenon in the form of a digital magazine, by revealing the main mechanisms of online disinformation, such as algorithms and echo chambers within social media. The website is structured like classic newspapers’ websites, most of which play the role of fake news authors. Within the site the articles shed light on various political and cultural phenomena of the Post-Truth world, such as the 2016 US presidential election, the Brexit, the current Russian-Ukrainian infowar fought on Telegram etc. The articles are the result of multimedia research, and editorial work through the reassortment of texts of publications, videos and documentaries concerning the Post-Truth phenomenon, which are all listed in the “sources” section of the website. In order to be able to read the title on the main page, however, it is first necessary to answer five questions, whose purpose is to find out the interests, fears and preferences of the user, who is then assigned to an echo chamber or “online bubble”. The answers provided are in fact the basis on which the algorithm can generate the headlines that best “suit” the user. The questions are purposely ambiguous, manipulative and not particularly relevant in determining the political orientation of the users, who most likely do not feel represented by the online bubble assigned to them. The headlines shown once the questions have been answered are false and precisely the most famous fake news, read and shared by politicians and others in recent years. In this way, the convoluted mechanisms behind the algorithms that suggest fake news are revealed to the users, who should reflect on whether they are in an online bubble in real life and develop critical thinking about the provenance and quality of content found online. Fake headlines are in turn accompanied by fake images, or rather images generated through artificial intelligence using fake news headlines as generative prompts. Sophisticated AI is indeed also chasing the Post-Truth in the information ecosphere and helping social media platforms drive out the fake news merchants and dangerous conspiracy theorists. Once inside each individual article, it is possible to read the real headline and inquire about the context within which the fake news in question was disseminated. The aim of the website is to shed light on these issues and to raise awareness among readers of the risks associated with the proliferation of disinformation using digital technology within a socio-political context. The website criticizes the mechanisms behind the spread of fake news in a rather extreme way. Showing the truth behind the problem, sometimes using strong languages and images. It is no way intended to offend users, but rather to provide them with critical thinking on the issues raised.

Welcome to the Post-Truth world
Concept and Design: Maria Neri
Coding: Maria Neri with the big support of Jana Reddemann and David Liebermann
As part of the project Face to Interface
at Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle
Summer term 2023