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

Wikimedia/Yale Law School Initiative on Intermediaries and Information, 2021

107 Pages Posted: 5 Apr 2021

See all articles by Nathalie Maréchal

Nathalie Maréchal

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Elizabeth Renieris

Carr Center for Human Rights Policy; Harvard University, Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, Students; Technology Ethics Lab

Jan Rydzak

Stanford Global Digital Policy Incubator

Ivar Alberto Hartmann

Insper Learning Institution

Jonathan A. Obar

York University; Quello Center - Michigan State University

Akriti Gaur

National Law University Jodhpur (NLUJ), Faculty of Law, Students; Yale Law School; Yale Information Society Project

Lisa Macpherson

Public Knowledge; Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative

Michael Karanicolas

UCLA Institute for Technology, Law & Policy; Yale University - Yale Information Society Project

Amanda Keton

Wikimedia Foundation

Date Written: March 8, 2021

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

Suggested Citation

Maréchal, Nathalie and Renieris, Elizabeth and Rydzak, Jan and Hartmann, Ivar Alberto and Obar, Jonathan A. and Gaur, Akriti and Macpherson, Lisa and Karanicolas, Michael and Keton, Amanda, Tackling the 'Fake' Without Harming the 'News': A Paper Series on Regulatory Responses to Misinformation (March 8, 2021). Wikimedia/Yale Law School Initiative on Intermediaries and Information, 2021, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3804878

Nathalie Maréchal

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Elizabeth Renieris

Carr Center for Human Rights Policy ( email )

79 John F. Kennedy Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Harvard University, Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, Students ( email )

United States

Technology Ethics Lab ( email )

361 Mendoza College of Business
Notre Dame, IN 46556-5646
United States

Jan Rydzak

Stanford Global Digital Policy Incubator ( email )

Stanford, CA 94305
United States
+16507253443 (Phone)

Ivar Alberto Hartmann

Insper Learning Institution ( email )

R Quata 300
Sao Paulo, 04542-030
Brazil

Jonathan A. Obar

York University ( email )

4700 Keele Street
Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3
Canada

Quello Center - Michigan State University ( email )

East Lansing, MI 48824
United States

Akriti Gaur

National Law University Jodhpur (NLUJ), Faculty of Law, Students ( email )

NH-65, Nagour Road
Mandore, Jodhpur
India

Yale Law School ( email )

127 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06510
United States

Yale Information Society Project ( email )

127 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06510
United States

Lisa Macpherson

Public Knowledge ( email )

1818 N Street, NW
Suite 410
Washington, DC 20036
United States

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.publicknowledge.org/blog/author/lisa-macpherson/

Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative ( email )

79 John F. Kennedy Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.advancedleadership.harvard.edu/lisa-macpherson

Michael Karanicolas (Contact Author)

UCLA Institute for Technology, Law & Policy ( email )

Yale University - Yale Information Society Project ( email )

127 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
United States

Amanda Keton

Wikimedia Foundation

149 New Montgomery Street, 3rd Floor
San Francisco, CA
United States

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