Tackling Disinformation: EU Regulation of the Digital Space

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of current responses to fake news and digital disinformation inside and outside the EU, and assesses the advantages and disadvantages of each solution. Four approaches emerge:

(1) self-regulation (i.e. actions undertaken on a voluntary basis by the digital platforms);

(2) co-regulation (i.e. cooperation framework between EU-level and national-level authorities, the internet platform companies, media organizations, researchers, and other stakeholders);

(3) direct regulation (i.e. legal measures & sanctions); and

(4) audience-centered solutions (i.e. fact-checking and media literacy).

We argue in favor of the co-regulation approach, while drawing attention to some current challenges in the response against disinformation. Furthermore, we need to go beyond the understanding of disinformation as an information/ truth fraud, and draw additional measures to reflect the particular understanding of disinformation as a form of users’ engagement fraud.

Keywords: online disinformation, fake news, regulation of disinformation