For most of the past decade, the misinformation complex — a decentralized, ideologically aligned network of fact-checking sites, media outlets, NGOs, government agencies and social media companies — ruled our information ecosystem. Today, the archives of this ancien régime are being opened. What they show is how, with shockingly little effort, the misinformation complex could shut down investigations into even the most clear-cut claims that threatened the Democratic party’s great narratives.

This was precisely the case with one of the most prominent progressive politicians in the US today, Ilhan Omar. In 2018, Omar rode a wave of identity politics into high office as representative for Minnesota’s 5th congressional district. The media was not just jubilant but triumphant. Along with the nascent Squad, this Trump-taunting black female politician and former refugee became an instant icon of the new color-bound progressive politics.

But there was a catch: Omar herself would not be shoved into this cardboard cutout of a squeaky clean, infinitely tolerant diversity figure. In her very first weeks in office, she made a series of comments about Israel that fell well within the discourse of antisemitic speech as the Democratic Party itself had long since defined it. Then, far more damagingly, allegations that Omar had married her own brother to secure his visa to the US exploded in the conservative media.