When is a democracy in a post-factual (postfaktisch) state, and what is new about it?

When convenient narratives, rather than facts and evidence, are the basis for forming opinions in public debate and politics. What is new is that liars no longer bother to hide the lie or back their claims with checkable facts.

Someone caught lying hardly has to fear consequences, as long as they can successfully accuse the people exposing the lie of lying themselves and being untrustworthy.

The media environment strongly encourages this:

• Facts come second for virality. Rumours, false reports and fabricated stories thrive and live long online. Sticking to the truth is not a condition for wide resonance.
• Gatekeepers have lost power. Journalists and editors once filtered information. Digital media let anyone publish, which was first celebrated as democratising the media. Every individual is now a node of the networked public sphere.
• Attention follows power rules. A few big channels and platforms get most of the attention and set the agenda, which undermines journalism's role as a filter.
• Attention is the currency. Because attention is scarce, selection becomes the decisive moment. A click is a click and can be cashed in for euros and dollars.

Go deeper:

• Wikipedia: Post-truth politics — the concept, its history and examples.
• Wikipedia: Attention economy — why attention, not truth, is the scarce currency online.