Tackling the 'Fake' Without Harming the 'News': A Paper Series on Regulatory Responses to Misinformation

Abstract

Around the world, an increasing number of governments are responding to the threat posed by misinformation by passing repressive criminal content restrictions prohibiting the spread of "fake news". But while international human rights standards are clear regarding the problems associated with broad criminal restrictions prohibiting the spread of misinformation, defining an appropriate regulatory response is more challenging. If criminal content restrictions are not an acceptable answer, then what should governments and other regulatory authorities do to combat the very real harms of misinformation?

This paper series provides a set of innovative proposals for regulatory responses to misinformation which do not revert to the use of criminal sanctions targeting false speech. The authors were drawn from an open call for proposals, and represent a diversity of perspectives, reflecting the global and multifaceted nature of the misinformation challenge. Although each of the papers was written with a particular national context in mind, all were chosen due in part for their potential scalability across different jurisdictions. While none of these proposals are a panacea, they are designed to be complementary, and to target different aspects of the misinformation ecosystem. Together, the papers provide a menu of alternative policy proposals for regulators and public officials seeking new avenues to combat the harm of misinformation.

Keywords: Information Disorder, Fake News, Freedom of Expression, Platform Law, Misinformation, Disinformation