The rapid spread of fake news can influence millions of people, impacting elections and financial markets. A study on the impact of fake news on the 2016 US presidential election, for instance, has found that fake news stories about Hillary Clinton was “very strongly linked” to the defection of voters who supported Barack Obama in the previous election. Read the rest of this entry »
Within a week of one another came two reports on the future of journalism in an age of big tech: The Cairncross Review (on 12 Feb) and The Commons DCMS Committee Final Report into Fake News and Disinformation (14 Feb – but with its excoriating criticism of Facebook, anything but a Valentine to Mark Zuckerberg). Read the rest of this entry »
The final report of the Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee on Disinformation and Fake News [pdf] was published on 18 February 2019. It is the product of an 18 month process – far in excess of the normal timeframe for Select Committee inquiries, involving 170 written submissions and 73 oral witnesses. Read the rest of this entry »
The House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee has published its final report on “Disinformation and ‘fake news’” [pdf] after an inquiry lasting 18 months. Read the rest of this entry »
In light of the upcoming European Parliament elections, the European Commission published its Action Plan against Disinformation last month, aimed at protecting EU’s “democratic systems and public debates”. Read the rest of this entry »
How to deal with misinformation is a topic of significant debate in the UK, and a focus of the LSE Commission on Truth, Trust and Technology, which will launch its report in November. The Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee has released its interim report from its inquiry into fake news, and is likely to publish its final report in the coming months. Read the rest of this entry »
In a November 2016 article, Nick Couldry and Clemencia Rodriguez (from the International Panel on Social Progress) stated that “media infrastructure is a common good whose governance and design should be much more open to democratic engagement than currently.” Does the population agree with this view? Read the rest of this entry »
France’s parliament is debating a law that would give the state the power to censor “fake news”. If the law is passed, the French state will have the powers to ban, through a court order, the publication of any news considered false in run-up period before elections. Read the rest of this entry »
Three news stories in as many days have betrayed how little understood – or apparently respected – are some of the core principles which underline reputable journalism. For those who believe that trustworthy news and information – and strong institutions behind them – matter in a democracy it is a worrying sign. For the growing numbers of media cynics, it is further evidence of media elitism or corruption. Read the rest of this entry »
The EU is stepping up its fight against fake news. It recently published a new policy document (the ‘Communication on Tackling online disinformation’ of 26 April 2018) proposing several measures against fake news. Read the rest of this entry »
