Maybe you assumed that disinformation is formulated in strange, faroff corners of the internet. But go down the rabbit hole and you’ll find that, in fact, some of the crazy ideas your uncle talks about at Thanksgiving were, in fact, deliberately invented, cultivated, and spread by powerful nation-state actors dedicating huge money, manpower, and time for the goal of leading millions of people astray and, potentially, inciting consequences far worse than that.

But Russia’s fake news didn’t begin with the guy you’re thinking of -- that one, you know who. No, in a meaningful sense, the history of Russian disinformation began over a century ago.