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 »
Donald Trump’s insistence that any challenges to the actions and utterances of the president are “fake news” is particularly chilling because it resembles a tactic used by authoritarian regimes seeking ways to silence independent reporting. Read the rest of this entry »
The EC high level group on ‘fake news’ has done what it was asked to do: it has set out a problem definition and mapped out some policy principles and broad recommendations. Read the rest of this entry »
Before we attack the problem, we must understand that the idea of “disinformation” – and that’s what we’re talking about here – is very old one. During the 1930s, New York Times reporter Walter Duranty was found to have filed completely false stories covering up the barbaric cruelties and famine committed in Josef Stalin’s Soviet Union. Read the rest of this entry »
