the deficit before borrowing of the central government, provincial governments, local authorities, non-financial public enterprises and public corporations, has been brought down systematically from an upper turning point of 9.3% of gross domestic product in the fiscal year 1993/94 to a ratio of 3.4% in the fiscal year 1998/99.
Some 83% of individuals responding to a Eurobarometer survey regard “fake news” and online disinformation as a threat to democracy. 6 On the other hand, public trust in science remains high. According to a survey conducted in the United States by the Pew Research Center, public confidence in the scientific community has remained unchanged at its high level since the 1970s (Funk 2017).