Don't let the sun go down on Snopes – it helped start the internet

The fact-checking website, which got a new lease of life in the era of 'fake news' is in danger of being snuffed out in a legal battle between warring exes

" Alex Hern is a technology reporter for the Guardian

One of the brightest lights on the internet is in danger of being snuffed out: Snopes, the website that brought fact-checking to the web, is facing the prospect of losing all its advertising revenue due to a painful legal battle that ultimately stems from the co-founders' divorce two years ago.

It would be an ignominious end for a website which has survived more than two decades online, outlasting boom, bust and boom again, before finding a new lease of life, and widespread respect, in the era of "fake news".