Fake news as a label is terrible, as a phenomenon it is quite complex and whenever you treat fake news you have to keep in mind freedom of expression. Freedom of expression is not only about freedom of expressing truths or truthful facts, but it also includes freedom to express falsities and false facts.
Fake News and Freedom of the Media
Professor
Andrei Richter
(He/Him)
Verified academic
Professor
Faculty of Arts & Humanities
Comenius University in Bratislava
The research into fake news is important for security concerns and it is also very important to understand the dangers of governmental control of information.
About
Analyse the contemporary understanding of fake news with that of freedom of expression and see in what cases fake news can be prosecuted or punished and in which case fake news should be left alone.
The aim was to reach governments, policy makers, diplomats and security experts with background information and research done on what is fake news and how it relates to freedom of the media.
This is because they would treat fake news, in most cases, as such: as a threat to security or as something which is bad, but they would not necessarily put it on a balance with a need to respect human rights and freedom of expression in particular. The general notion of propaganda appeared again in international relations and debates on freedom of the media in around 2014. This became more specific when politicians started to talk about fake news in America around 2016-2017 and therefore I decided to focus more on disinformation, keeping in mind that it is part of propaganda.
The research was needed because a new emerging phenomenon appeared when politicians, such as Trump, started talking about fake news as a way to label any media contrary to his views as fake news. There are two aspects: fake news as disinformation and fake news as a political populist way to label the media which you do not like.
Key Findings
I looked into the documents of international organizations, intergovernmental organizations starting with the League of Nations and proceed in the United Nations mostly in the post war era where false news were considered a threat to peace and then I also looked at the definitions of freedom of expression and freedom of the media and also the value of human rights in today’s world and put them next to each other to see how they relate to each other.
Another important layer of discussion was related to the European Union because they pay the most attention to fake news in international politics. The main evidence used was the documents of the League of Nations, United Nations, European Union and the Council of Europe. Also, I benefited a lot from discussions I had with diplomats in Vienna on propaganda and disinformation.
How to use
It is high time for governments to draft such a pledge, a commitment, in order to not spread misinformation themselves and to explain why and what is disinformation and how it can be controlled. Disinformation is a practical problem for many in today’s world, especially with the development of social networks and online information. I believe that such an effort would help debunk misinformation when it is dangerous.
The best instrument to fight misinformation is to have the issue on the agenda of every family, not just every government.
Want to read the full paper? It is available open access
Richter, A. (2018). Fake News and Freedom of the Media. JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT LAW.
About this research
This research was independently conducted and did not receive funding from outside of the university.
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UN Sustainable Development Goals
This research contributes to the following SDGs
About this research
This research was independently conducted and did not receive funding from outside of the university.
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What it means
It is clear that the idea of freedom of expression is stronger today than it was 100 years ago. Misinformation and fake news are not new phenomena.
The aim was to look back into history and to see how the governments and policy makers dealt with the phenomena in the past. False news was considered a dangerous thing from the very beginning of the civilised world, and they were considered dangerous for relations between nations. If a government disseminates falsities about neighbours, then the public feels hate, animosity; and it is easier to manipulate the population of your country if you want to start an armed conflict or shift attention.
There is no government that says it wants to spread lies. Formally, there is a universal approach that disinformation in the hands of the governments is a negative phenomenon, but still there is no universal instrument to say that and to treat that.
Methodology
This qualitative study was the outcome of documentary research
Glossary
Propaganda
An attempt to manipulate the public for particular political or economical reasons with the help of information
Disinformation
The intentional spreading of lies
Freedom Of The Media
The right of everyone to freely disseminate information and opinions with the use of modern technology, mostly internet etc
Freedom Of Expression
A fundamental human right
Let your research make a social impact
Carmen Gabriela Lupu prepared this research following an interview with Andrei Richter.
