Are we living in a virtual world where nothing is true and everything we hear and read about is fake? Are all people's actions based on a parallel world created in the minds of manipulators?

I'm not talking about Artificial Intelligence or that robots will be taking over the world. What I'm referring to is a new phenomenon that's been going on for a few years: the industry of troll farms, basically fake online communities that are being used for everything from government elections to businesses selling stuff using outright lies.

You may have heard about this in relation to Russian meddling in the U.S. elections. For instance, in 2016 Russian trolls created a fake protest scenario that resulted in an actual confrontation. Through the creation of Facebook groups, they got real people to go out in rival protests in Texas, luckily there was no physical violence. But this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to online trolling. It's getting to a point where we can't know what is true and what is a smokescreen. Reality is being muddied with lies and misinformation.

Companies and governments around the world are hiring firms, dubbed "black PR," to create fake social media accounts and spam people with lies and misinformation to sell their products, services or candidates.

An article in BuzzFeed talked about a young Chinese man who started one of these "black PR" operations when he was in high school and is now designing software to be used in the spread of misinformation. He was hired by politicians and companies to aid them in selling their products or promoting their campaigns. This deception has become widespread. According to the article, Facebook's head of cybersecurity said companies are using this type of deception as their "businesses model."

These black PR firms are becoming pretty bold in promoting their services. According to the article, an Israeli firm advertised on its website that it would "use every tool and take every advantage available in order to change reality according to our client's wishes." These black PR firms exist all over the world, from the Philippines, where they are flourishing, to Ukraine and Eastern Europe. Despite efforts by Twitter and Facebook to stop online trolls, black PR is thriving and it doesn't appear that it will be stopped in the foreseeable future.

One of the black PR firms, mentioned in the BuzzFeed article, created two rival websites one in support of a Nigerian politician and the other opposing him, creating a false narrative for people to follow. This type of manipulation makes it easy for a candidate to control the dialogue and what people discuss. While this was done for a politician in Nigeria, it can be replicated anywhere.

I see this as being a threat to democracy and a threat to reality. I was thinking to myself, that this deception should be illegal, but apparently it's not. While there are laws in this country that can stop businesses from making outright false claims, it seems there is no way to stop these manipulators from altering reality and playing with our emotions to gain our support or increase their profits. The next time you read something online or are compelled to take action, do your best to verify first before believing it. It's on us to be vigilant and sift through the lies to try and get to the truth.