It looked like yet more evidence of the rising clout of one of Slovakia’s most prominent far-right politicians when an opinion poll emerged recently showing him on course for victory in regional elections due early next month.

The poll, conducted by a company called VISIT BB, was widely shared by supporters of Marian Kotleba and his People’s Party, after it was first published by a popular conservative website called “Hlavné Správy,” which translates as “Headline News.”

But Headline News missed out a crucial fact. Neither the firm, nor the poll exist. So says Tomas Cizik, a think tank academic who has been keeping tabs on the growing number of these “alternative” news sites which support both figures like Kotleba, and the Kremlin.

A researcher at the Bratislava-based Center for European and North Atlantic Affairs, Cizik has also been organizing seminars for Slovak high school students on media literacy and critical thinking to inoculate them against the messages these sites are propagating. Or, in other words, how to spot fake news. But from what Cizik has seen so far, his students have a lot to learn.