Abstract
This article aims to identify the greater threat to liberal democracies:
“fake news” or domestic regulations intended to combat “fake news”.
First, it assesses the impact of fake news on elections by analysing the
2016 US Presidential election in which the world faced the modern
version of fake news for the first time and the 2019 EU Parliament
election in which a non-regulatory initiative was launched to challenge
fake news. Then, it evaluates the impact of regulations on free speech
by reviewing liberal democracies’ pioneering regulatory frameworks
intended to combat fake news: French Law no. 2018-1202, Germany’s
Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz, and UK’s Online Harms White Paper.
It argues that, while damage to the functioning of democracy caused
by fake news during election periods has not been as great as was
feared, since fake news has several, highly politicised meanings, legal
frameworks tend to over-regulate, which may violate the freedom of
expression according to the case-law of the European Court of Human
Rights (ECtHR). The article concludes that enhancing media literacy and
non-regulatory efforts globally would contribute much more to prevent
the impacts of fake news and to protect freedom of expression than
legislative frameworks could, and that adopting regulatory frameworks
to tackle the online dissemination of fake news should be reconsidered.
References
- ALLCOTT, Hunt and GENTZKOW, Matthew (2017). “Social Media and Fake News in the 2016 Election”, Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 31, No: 2, pp. 211-360.
- BALL, James (2017). Post-Truth: How Bullshit Conquered the World, London: Biteback Publishing.
- BALMAS, Meital (2014). “When Fake News Becomes Real: Combined Exposure to Multiple News Sources and Political Attitudes of Inefficacy, Alienation, and Cynicism”, Communication Research, Vol. 41, No: 3, pp. 430-454.
- BARTHEL, Michael, MITCHELL, Amy and HOLCOMB Jesse (2016). “Many Americans Believe Fake News Is Sowing Confusion”, Pew Research Center.
- BENEDEK, Wolfgang and KETTEMANN, Matthias C. (2013). Freedom of Expression and the Internet, Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing.
- BENKLER, Yochai, FARIS, Robert and ROBERTS, Hal (2018). Network Propaganda: Manipulation, Disinformation, and Radicalization in American Politics, New York: Oxford University Press.
- BENNETT, John T. (27 May 2020). “Trump Accuses Twitter of Interfering in Election after Fact-Checking His Tweets for First Time”, The Independent https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/ twitter-donald-trump-fact-check-warning-label-tweets-mail-in-votingmurder- a9533871.html (Accessed 1 July 2021).
- BRADSHAW, Samantha and HOWARD, Philip N. (2018). “The Global Organization of Social Media Disinformation Campaigns”, Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 71, No: 1 pp. 23-32.
- CALVERT, Clay, MCNEFF, Stephanie, VINING, Austin and ZARATE, Sebastian (2018). “Fake News and the First Amendment: Reconciling a Disconnect between Theory and Doctrine”, University of Cincinnati Law Review, Vol. 86, No: 1, pp. 99-138.
- CHERNER, Todd S. and CURRY, Kristal (2019). “Preparing Pre-Service Teachers to Teach Media Literacy: A Response to ‘Fake News’”, Journal of Media Literacy Education, Vol. 11, No: 1, pp. 1-31.
Abstract
This article aims to identify the greater threat to liberal democracies:
“fake news” or domestic regulations intended to combat “fake news”.
First, it assesses the impact of fake news on elections by analysing the
2016 US Presidential election in which the world faced the modern
version of fake news for the first time and the 2019 EU Parliament
election in which a non-regulatory initiative was launched to challenge
fake news. Then, it evaluates the impact of regulations on free speech
by reviewing liberal democracies’ pioneering regulatory frameworks
intended to combat fake news: French Law no. 2018-1202, Germany’s
Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz, and UK’s Online Harms White Paper.
It argues that, while damage to the functioning of democracy caused
by fake news during election periods has not been as great as was
feared, since fake news has several, highly politicised meanings, legal
frameworks tend to over-regulate, which may violate the freedom of
expression according to the case-law of the European Court of Human
Rights (ECtHR). The article concludes that enhancing media literacy and
non-regulatory efforts globally would contribute much more to prevent
the impacts of fake news and to protect freedom of expression than
legislative frameworks could, and that adopting regulatory frameworks
to tackle the online dissemination of fake news should be reconsidered.
References
- ALLCOTT, Hunt and GENTZKOW, Matthew (2017). “Social Media and Fake News in the 2016 Election”, Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 31, No: 2, pp. 211-360.
- BALL, James (2017). Post-Truth: How Bullshit Conquered the World, London: Biteback Publishing.
- BALMAS, Meital (2014). “When Fake News Becomes Real: Combined Exposure to Multiple News Sources and Political Attitudes of Inefficacy, Alienation, and Cynicism”, Communication Research, Vol. 41, No: 3, pp. 430-454.
- BARTHEL, Michael, MITCHELL, Amy and HOLCOMB Jesse (2016). “Many Americans Believe Fake News Is Sowing Confusion”, Pew Research Center.
- BENEDEK, Wolfgang and KETTEMANN, Matthias C. (2013). Freedom of Expression and the Internet, Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing.
- BENKLER, Yochai, FARIS, Robert and ROBERTS, Hal (2018). Network Propaganda: Manipulation, Disinformation, and Radicalization in American Politics, New York: Oxford University Press.
- BENNETT, John T. (27 May 2020). “Trump Accuses Twitter of Interfering in Election after Fact-Checking His Tweets for First Time”, The Independent https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/ twitter-donald-trump-fact-check-warning-label-tweets-mail-in-votingmurder- a9533871.html (Accessed 1 July 2021).
- BRADSHAW, Samantha and HOWARD, Philip N. (2018). “The Global Organization of Social Media Disinformation Campaigns”, Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 71, No: 1 pp. 23-32.
- CALVERT, Clay, MCNEFF, Stephanie, VINING, Austin and ZARATE, Sebastian (2018). “Fake News and the First Amendment: Reconciling a Disconnect between Theory and Doctrine”, University of Cincinnati Law Review, Vol. 86, No: 1, pp. 99-138.
- CHERNER, Todd S. and CURRY, Kristal (2019). “Preparing Pre-Service Teachers to Teach Media Literacy: A Response to ‘Fake News’”, Journal of Media Literacy Education, Vol. 11, No: 1, pp. 1-31.
Details
| Primary Language | English |
|---|---|
| Subjects | Law in Context |
| Journal Section | Research Articles |
| Authors | |
| Publication Date | July 6, 2022 |
| Published in Issue | Year 2022 Volume: 39 Issue: 1 |
