Google, like every search engine, is a gateway to information and not a source of it.

So long as you read trustworthy sources then the information will be fine and there is nothing at all to stop you reading several and also the fact-checkers if you suspect disinformation.

There are places whose reputation for honesty and integrity has been established over the years and others who I wouldn't touch with a gold plated barge pole. That's all down to personal experience and observation over a long time.

The conditioning that's done these days isn't by politicians or the media. It's on here. On the internet, where we are suffering from ex-Pres Obama described as "truth-decay".

We are really in the post-truth era, when anyone can post whatever they want and when it chimes with a pre-conception can take root and reach millions in no time.

When those posts can be created by people determined to divide and mislead us the dangers ought to be obvious.

How to manage this, without threatening our right to free speech, is a huge issue for us all.