Throughout history there has always been a large majority class of people who were suppressed and controlled by the elites just like today. The difference is that today, the suppressed classes are comparatively highly educated and have access to limitless information. Before, this knowledge was accessible mostly by the elites.

Today, the lower classes know what's going on politically and economically better than many of the elites. That's why distrust of institutions is at an all time high. That's why books which label the social order as a fiction like 'Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind' are top sellers. For the first time in history, the correlation between wealth and knowledge has disappeared and is even starting to reverse.

It's difficult for the elite to control a class which knows what's going on better than they do. And BTW, fake news has a purpose. It's a political and economic weapon invented by the lower and middle classes to serve their needs.