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What If More Speech Is No Longer the Solution? First Amendment Theory Meets Fake News and the Filter Bubble

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... The legal and ethical landscape of misinformation is shaped by the need to balance freedom of expression with the protection of public interests, such as truthfulness and social stability. Legal frameworks struggle to delineate where free speech ends and harmful misinformation begins, especially in democratic societies where the right to free expression is a fundamental value [28][29] . Ethical considerations further complicate this landscape, as the dissemination of misinformation can erode public trust and exacerbate social divisions (Southwell, Thorson, & Sheble, 2018) [34] . ...
... A central tension lies in balancing freedom of speech with the imperative to regulate harmful content. In the US, the First Amendment provides robust protection for free expression, often precluding direct content regulation [28][29] . This stands in contrast to the EU's more interventionist stance, exemplified by the Digital Services Act, which seeks to mitigate online harms whilst preserving freedom of expression (Helberger et al., 2021). ...
... The United States' approach to regulating fake news and misinformation stands in stark contrast to that of the EU, characterised by a more hands-off stance rooted in the country's strong protection of free speech (Sedler, 2006) [33] . The First Amendment to the US Constitution provides robust safeguards for freedom of expression, significantly limiting the government's ability to regulate content, even when it may be false or misleading [28][29] . This constitutional protection has resulted in a regulatory environment that prioritises the free flow of information, operating under the assumption that truth will ultimately prevail in the marketplace of ideas (Marceau & Chen, 2016) [23] . ...
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The rise of misinformation has significant legal and ethical implications, influencing public trust, social stability, and democratic processes. This study provides a comparative analysis of regulatory approaches to misinformation in the European Union (EU) and the United States (US), highlighting key differences in their legal and ethical frameworks. The EU's regulatory stance, marked by proactive content moderation and platform accountability, contrasts with the US's emphasis on free speech protections under the First Amendment and Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. By examining these divergent approaches, the study identifies the strengths and weaknesses of each framework and explores the broader implications for policymakers seeking to mitigate the impact of misinformation. The analysis suggests that a balanced, hybrid regulatory approach could more effectively address the challenges posed by misinformation, fostering both accountability and the preservation of fundamental rights. Future research is recommended to explore global standards and best practices to combat misinformation across diverse legal landscapes.
... Had more truthful and trusted information been easily accessible to the American people, the COVID-19 vaccine may have had a larger adoption, and the "doorto-door" tactics may not have been needed. Thus, the Democratic Process Theory fails to recognize professional privilege [23] and the persuasion of authority [24]. ...
... The gatekeepers are the barriers that determine the type of news that the public has access to. In the past, the ability to produce media and the freedom of the press was only guaranteed to those that could afford or own one (Napoli, 2018). Which would have been limited to those in privileged positions such as television stations/ networks, newspapers, journals, and magazines as the average citizen did not have the means to produce such press as technology was not as advanced or readily available as it is today. ...
... The cost of producing media in today's world is free for those that create social media accounts where content, posts, articles, images, and more can be shared. Due to the cost of producing misinformation being free, drastically reduced distribution cost, and the ability of gatekeepers being reduced, the financial incentive to produce misinformation has drastically increased due to technology rapidly growing the potential market of receivers (Napoli, 2018 it proves that even if true information is shared with the public by gatekeepers, the public will question it. The public questioning the shared media from gatekeepers then alters the media and forms it to fit their agenda (Smith et al., 2020), thus creating more misinformation that has a larger outreach on society. ...
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Theories aim to justify and grant clarity on court decisions regarding the First Amendment rights. However, the recent outbreak of COVID-19 and the spread of misinformation about health precaution behavior and the COVID-19 vaccine has shown flaws in First Amendment theories. The Democratic Process Theory, Self-Realization/Self-Fulfilment Theory, Marketplace Theory, Social Responsibility Theory (SRT), and the Gatekeeper Theory will be reviewed to determine how COVID-19 has impacted their development and has exposed flaws in their foundational principles. The deficiencies identified are data deficits, persuasion principles used by misinformation, gatekeeper’s self-regulation flaws, gatekeepers’ algorithms, professional privilege, and lack of separation from opinion and fact-based reports. This research concludes with recommendations for the development of the theories post-COVID-19. Questions that future research will need to address and answer regarding First Amendment theories post-COVID-19 are also presented.
... Social media such as Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter affords, however, created a new concern that the increased connectedness and volume of information might be not informatively positive but negative, as social media have now become the constant source of receiving and sending mis-, or dis-information. As Napoli (2018) argued, more speech is not necessarily the solution to a problem, but the problem in current digital informational ecosystems, generating mistrust and illconfidence upon information exposure. In addressing above mentioned issues, the current study theorizes and tests a set of assumptions about the formation and consequence of informational mistrust at the exposure of misinformation. ...
... Still, surprisingly little work has been done to test this Tandoc, 2019). While we acknowledge that Silicon Valley-driven "fact-checking" initiatives can guide off the spread of misinformation and its ill consequences, we do not have the faith to self-policing rectitude of respective platforms (Lazer et al., 2018;Napoli, 2018;Tandoc et al., 2020). Instead, the current study is set to argue and offer evidence that correction might be also situated in societal contexts outside of social media, given that limits in individual cognition might not be positioned to sift through the constant influx of (mis)information. ...
... Misinformation often leaves cognitive imprint that can persist in memory, outlast a quick moment of exposure, and defy intentional corrective efforts. This is illuminating, considering the argument by Napoli (2018) who argued that social media ecosystems challenge a counterspeech doctrine which would assert that an insertion of more speech fixes and helps public reach the veracity of information. It is worth noting that we are not dismissive about a suggestion that functional features like crosschecking sources can be an effective corrective tool. ...
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We adopt the cultivation theory to identify the ways the increased exposures to (mis)information in social media and traditional media cultivate the perceptions of (1) informational mistrust and (2) ill-confidence in dealing with Covid-19 pandemic risk. Importantly, we expanded the theory and hypothesized about the roles of informal societal ties by investigating whether local community attachment and frequent friend-family interactions can mitigate the formation and consequence of mistrust arising from the exposure to misinformation. We found that the higher exposure to Covid-19 misinformation, as promulgated in both active and passive social media uses, was related to informational mistrust that was also linked to a lower level of confidence in telling the veracity of misinformation. Findings also show the significant relationships between two forms of informal social ties and misinformation confidence. We discuss how the abundance of information sources fuels misinformed citizenry as individuals are left alone to navigate increasingly confusing influx of unfounded misinformation abounded in social media.
... and 'filter bubbles' (Boyle, 2019;Napoli, 2019b). ...
... It is connected to the extent to which freedom of speech and public expression is valued as an end in and of itself, and the extent to which it is seen as needing to be tempered by other societal expectations. With the rise of political polarisation, misinformation and online hate speech, traditional ideas associated with the open internet, such as the proposition that the answer to bad speech is more speech, rather than speech regulation or restriction, have been increasingly challenged (Caplan et al., 2018;Napoli, 2019b). ...
Article
There has been a resurgence of interest across multiple jurisdictions in greater regulation by nation-states of aspects of the structure, conduct and performance of digital platforms. This has been driven by: growing concerns about the economic and other forms of power exercised by the largest platform companies in the digital economy; a series of 'public shocks' related to the misuse of such power and digital reach; pervasive community concerns about privacy, security, the misuse of personal data, and the erosion of rights in a digital age; and a policy shift from a 'rights' discourse that dominated early debates about internet governance towards one focused upon potential risks and online harms. While there are similar factors across nations promoting questions about why greater regulation of digital platforms should occur, there is less consensus about how it should be undertaken. This report seeks to map the issues raised and policies recommended, identifying the issues as arising across the fields of competition policy, content policy and digital rights. Undertaking an initial environmental scan of 65 public enquiries, the authors undertook a textual and thematic analysis of a subset of 20 public inquiries, across seven countries, the European Union, and the United Nations. The approach taken parallels that of Kretschmer, Furgal and Schlesinger in their mapping of the emergence of a new regulatory field of platform governance in the United Kingdom (Kretschmer et al., 2021). In terms of policy recommendations, it was found that with regards to competition, access to data, competition in digital markets, the future of the news industry, and platform regulation were common themes across the enquiries. The main drive for content regulation has been perceived online harms, and the main themes identified include the role of digital platforms, in disseminating or restricting access to harmful content, support for civil society organisations monitoring misinformation and online harms, development of multi-stakeholder codes of practice, and an expanded role of public authorities. In the more diffuse field of rights, the main 2 drivers of policy reform are online targeting of consumers, transparency on political advertising, data portability, privacy laws, and regulations on third-party uses of data along the lines of the European Union's GDPR. There is also an emerging literature on regulatory issues raised by artificial intelligence. The report concludes with a discussion of issues raised by national policy regulations, including jurisdictional authority over global platforms headquartered in other countries, the question of who regulates, and the appropriate balance between nation-state regulation, industry self-regulation, and multi-stakeholder governance. It finds some support for the proposition that such issues are seeing the rise of hybrid regulatory entities that operate across industry and policy silos, as part of what Philip Schlesinger has termed neo-regulation (Schlesinger, 2021).
... There is increasing evidence that consumers have reacted absurdly to news that later proved to be fake [7,8]. One recent case is the spread of novel corona virus, where fake reports spread over the Internet about the origin, nature, and behavior of the virus [9]. ...
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In an era dominated by information dissemination through various channels like newspapers, social media, radio, and television, the surge in content production, especially on social platforms, has amplified the challenge of distinguishing between truthful and deceptive information. Fake news, a prevalent issue, particularly on social media, complicates the assessment of news credibility. The pervasive spread of fake news not only misleads the public but also erodes trust in legitimate news sources, creating confusion and polarizing opinions. As the volume of information grows, individuals increasingly struggle to discern credible content from false narratives, leading to widespread misinformation and potentially harmful consequences. Despite numerous methodologies proposed for fake news detection, including knowledge-based, language-based, and machine-learning approaches, their efficacy often diminishes when confronted with high-dimensional datasets and data riddled with noise or inconsistencies. Our study addresses this challenge by evaluating the synergistic benefits of combining feature extraction and feature selection techniques in fake news detection. We employ multiple feature extraction methods, including Count Vectorizer, Bag of Words, Global Vectors for Word Representation (GloVe), Word to Vector (Word2Vec), and Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency (TF-IDF), alongside feature selection techniques such as Information Gain, Chi-Square, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and Document Frequency. This comprehensive approach enhances the model’s ability to identify and analyze relevant features, leading to more accurate and effective fake news detection. Our findings highlight the importance of a multi-faceted approach, offering a significant improvement in model accuracy and reliability. Moreover, the study emphasizes the adaptability of the proposed ensemble model across diverse datasets, reinforcing its potential for broader application in real-world scenarios. We introduce a pioneering ensemble technique that leverages both machine-learning and deep-learning classifiers. To identify the optimal ensemble configuration, we systematically tested various combinations. Experimental evaluations conducted on three diverse datasets related to fake news demonstrate the exceptional performance of our proposed ensemble model. Achieving remarkable accuracy levels of 97%, 99%, and 98% on Dataset 1, Dataset 2, and Dataset 3, respectively, our approach showcases robustness and effectiveness in discerning fake news amidst the complexities of contemporary information landscapes. This research contributes to the advancement of fake news detection methodologies and underscores the significance of integrating feature extraction and feature selection strategies for enhanced performance, especially in the context of intricate, high-dimensional datasets.
... The assumption that counterspeech effectively combats misinformation has been heavily critiqued-especially as of late (e.g., [11,29,39]). For our purposes, in considering potential interventions that promote counterspeech, it is useful to recount these critiques-not as reasons to abandon the counterspeech doctrine, but rather to clarify the challenges that any effective intervention must overcome. ...
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Social media has a misinformation problem, and counterspeech -- fighting bad speech with more speech -- has been an ineffective solution. Here, we argue that bridging-based ranking -- an algorithmic approach to promoting content favored by users of diverse viewpoints -- is a promising approach to helping counterspeech combat misinformation. By identifying counterspeech that is favored both by users who are inclined to agree and by users who are inclined to disagree with a piece of misinformation, bridging promotes counterspeech that persuades the users most likely to believe the misinformation. Furthermore, this algorithmic approach leverages crowd-sourced votes, shifting discretion from platforms back to users and enabling counterspeech at the speed and scale required to combat misinformation online. Bridging is respectful of users' autonomy and encourages broad participation in healthy exchanges; it offers a way for the free speech tradition to persist in modern speech environments.
... Qualitative Health Research, Vol. 30, No. 12, (pp. 1953-1964. 22 https://babylonbee.com/news/liberal-treated-with-hydroxychloroquinehopes-he-still-dies-of-covid-19-to-prove-trump-is-stupid?utm_content= buffera3e6c&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_ campaign=buffer 23 Sakki, I., & Martikainen, J. (2021). ...
... When misinformation erodes this trust, it can lead to apathy, disengagement, and polarization (Fletcher & Nielsen, 2018). The challenge lies in balancing the open and participatory nature of social media with the need to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information disseminated (Napoli, 2018). ...
Article
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This study investigates the influence of social media, misinformation, and digital communication strategies on public perception and trust. The primary objective is to qualitatively analyze the literature to understand how these factors shape public opinion and trust in information sources. The research employs a qualitative literature review methodology, synthesizing findings from academic articles, industry reports case studies, and empirical studies to provide a comprehensive overview of current knowledge in this field. The literature review methodology involves systematically collecting and analyzing scholarly sources that discuss various aspects of social media influence, the spread of misinformation, and the effectiveness of digital communication strategies. The study categorizes the literature into crucial themes, such as the role of social media in information dissemination, the impact of misinformation on public trust, and the strategies employed to counteract misinformation and enhance communication efficacy. Thematic analysis is used to identify patterns and trends in how these factors influence public perception and trust. The findings reveal that social media plays a crucial role in shaping public perception by providing a platform for rapid information dissemination and engagement. However, the prevalence of misinformation on these platforms significantly undermines public trust in traditional and digital media sources. Effective digital communication strategies, such as transparency, credibility, and engagement, are essential for mitigating the negative impact of misinformation and rebuilding public trust.
... By 2018 the AP was producing more than 3,700 stories this way during every earning season, covering most US traded stocks down to a market capitalization of US$ 75 million. That´s more than ten times the number of stories they wrote without automation, enabling a far greater breadth of coverage" (Diakopoulos, 2019, p. 1). 5 Among the effects of technological change on the fake news market listed by the 2013 World Economic Forum are 1) destabilization of the relative prominence between true and fake news; 2) reduced barriers to containing disinformation; 3) increased ability to produce fake news for specific audiences; 4) decreased education/formation of customers for more accurate news; 5) decreased ability of consumers to distinguish between true and fake news; and 6) increased speed with which fake news can be transmitted (Napoli, 2018). ...
Chapter
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William Shakespeare’s plays were published in England in 1623. The popularity of his ideas, however, precedes him, and his success is often attributed to his capacity to grasp something about the timeless universality of humankind. Othello, the Moor of Venice tells the tale of a Moorish general entangled in the twisted truths told by his ensign, Iago. The consequences are tragic: Othello kills his wife and commits suicide. When Iago poisons Othello’s ears with stories about Cassius and Desdemona, a political coup is underway. In Shakespeare’s play, the fact that the characters reside on an island favors the lie. A handkerchief stolen from Desdemona, a legitimate element, is used as proof of betrayal. As in this 16th- century tragedy, fake news represents a real and devastating danger, which employs tricks such as plausibility and finds in closed groups conducive environments for its dissemination. The question here is how to avoid Othello’s fate, and the following topics present the acts through which this tragedy develops.
... In the case of Whitney v. California (1927), 1 the underlying rationale related to the regulation of speech consists of considering that legitimate news will always prevail over false or inaccurate news. However, Philip M. Napoli (2018) challenges the assumption of the American conception of 'counterspeech' and argues that conditions, such as the structural and economic changes that have affected the news media, increased fragmentation and personalisation, and increasingly algorithmically-dictated content dissemination and consumption, affect the production and flow of news in ways that may make it more difficult than it has been in the past to assume that legitimate news will systematically win out over false news. (Napoli 2018, 59) Yet, despite the unique challenges of the online marketplace of ideas, a legal response similar to the measures or laws enacted in Europe could never pass constitutional muster in the United States (Nunziato 2019). ...
Chapter
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If the fabrication of fake news could easily be perceived as unethical, it might be more difficult to identify what laws fake news infringes. The global proliferation of fake news makes the legal response more challenging, especially when different legal systems do not share the same underlying policies in relation to speech regulation. What is more pressing is to ensure coordinated and coherent national responses to a global and transnational phenomenon. From a legal perspective, three elements constantly appear in any fake-news dissemination: the ‘factual inaccuracy’, the ‘intent to deceive’, and ‘harm’ are three parameters which lay the foundations for legal distinctions between different types of fake news. Online platforms are constantly engaged in ‘moderation decisions’. The virality of digital social media and the underlying structural tendency for platforms to promote certain kinds of content engender a fundamental change in the dynamics of speech. The platform becomes the message. Given the structural dynamics of digital communication, the liability of online intermediates is key to address and limit the proliferation of fake news. Very strong national interests related to the protection of national security can justify legitimate censorship on the Internet. Nonetheless, any legislative response should establish a fine balance between a ‘global’ interest in protecting individual freedom of expression rights and the prevention of extremism and radicalization through social-media platforms.
... Some of that disinformation emanated from the highest levels; for example, the Washington Post fact-checking service reported that, at the completion of his incumbency, US President, Donald Trump, had made more than 30,000 false and misleading claims during his term of office (Kessler et al., 2021). Such disinformation is thought to have changed the outcome of the election (see Gunther et al., 2016;Napoli, 2018). Democracies around the world are now witnessing the ascendance of what has been labelled 'post-truth' politics; a politics in which even the value of objective facts is disputed. ...
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We conclude by making ten recommendations in light of the foregoing discussion. These recommendations are intended to ensure that our ideal-type model is capable of fulfilling four general goals; first, it should be acceptable to the public as well as the political class in order to ensure bi- and, ideally, multi-party support; second, it should allow complaints to be handled in a timely manner; third, it should be capable of withstanding constitutional challenge, not only to ensure that it is not invalidated but also that it is not stifling good faith political speech; and fourth, it should be able to deal effectively with the problem of false campaign statements without producing too many unwanted and unintended consequences such as: the cynical use of injunctions against candidates for political purposes; vexatious litigation; the strategic use of false campaign statements with the intention of absorbing the pecuniary penalty as a ‘routine campaign expense’; ‘dragged-out’ litigation; ex-post rulings by the Supreme Court; unjust prosecution; mischievous flooding of trivial litigation for the sole purpose of distracting the Commission from its primary responsibility; and the perception that the regulator is too restrictive in its assessments.
... Some of that disinformation emanated from the highest levels; for example, the Washington Post fact-checking service reported that, at the completion of his incumbency, US President, Donald Trump, had made more than 30,000 false and misleading claims during his term of office (Kessler et al., 2021). Such disinformation is thought to have changed the outcome of the election (see Gunther et al., 2016;Napoli, 2018). Democracies around the world are now witnessing the ascendance of what has been labelled 'post-truth' politics; a politics in which even the value of objective facts is disputed. ...
Chapter
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We now explore legal experiments in truth in election advertising in the Australian context, including two at the Commonwealth level (later repealed) and one at the state level (we explore South Australia’s experience in Chapters 8 and 9). We also show that some jurisdictions have adopted what we refer to as ‘pseudo’ truth in political advertising laws that appear to perform the same function as those we propose but do not due to the operations of an influential precedent. There is also some discussion of cases where states came close to adopting truth in political advertising legislation but failed to; we examine why.
... Some of that disinformation emanated from the highest levels; for example, the Washington Post fact-checking service reported that, at the completion of his incumbency, US President, Donald Trump, had made more than 30,000 false and misleading claims during his term of office (Kessler et al., 2021). Such disinformation is thought to have changed the outcome of the election (see Gunther et al., 2016;Napoli, 2018). Democracies around the world are now witnessing the ascendance of what has been labelled 'post-truth' politics; a politics in which even the value of objective facts is disputed. ...
Chapter
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Because s 113 has been in place for some time it has much to teach us about how to design a viable regime for truth in election advertising . However, in sketching out our preferred or ideal model we offer a number of enhancing modifications to SA’s framework, some of which are inspired by practice (and shortcomings) in other common law jurisdictions. We focus here on the implementation of s 113, in particular on issues associated with: whether the publication of misleading election information should be a civil or criminal matter; timeliness and resources including ergonomic aspects of the investigation process; the notion of ‘material extent’ and its complications in determining a breach of s 113; the issue of possible unintended consequences of TIPA-type legislation; problems associated with determining the difference between purported statements of fact and opinion; legal defences; and appropriate penalties and adjudicators.
... Some of that disinformation emanated from the highest levels; for example, the Washington Post fact-checking service reported that, at the completion of his incumbency, US President, Donald Trump, had made more than 30,000 false and misleading claims during his term of office (Kessler et al., 2021). Such disinformation is thought to have changed the outcome of the election (see Gunther et al., 2016;Napoli, 2018). Democracies around the world are now witnessing the ascendance of what has been labelled 'post-truth' politics; a politics in which even the value of objective facts is disputed. ...
Chapter
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In this chapter we show that the Australian constitutional and jurisprudential approach to political speech, as embodied in the implied freedom of political communication, makes Australia a uniquely congenial setting for TIPA laws and the type of burden they place on political speech. This is reflected in a range of High Court decisions as well as the fact that the Supreme Court of South Australia has upheld the constitutionality of the South Australian TIPA law based on Australian implied freedom of communication jurisprudence. Our exploration of these decisions and their broader context throws light on how such a freedom is supposed to work and is constituted. Notably, the Courts have achieved a balance in the ‘freedom-fairness’ trade-off, and indicated that they consider TIPA laws, in constraining some political speech, as tipping the scales towards ‘fairness’ without at the same time unduly impacting freedom. We end the chapter by summarising our argument so far.
... Some of that disinformation emanated from the highest levels; for example, the Washington Post fact-checking service reported that, at the completion of his incumbency, US President, Donald Trump, had made more than 30,000 false and misleading claims during his term of office (Kessler et al., 2021). Such disinformation is thought to have changed the outcome of the election (see Gunther et al., 2016;Napoli, 2018). Democracies around the world are now witnessing the ascendance of what has been labelled 'post-truth' politics; a politics in which even the value of objective facts is disputed. ...
Chapter
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In this chapter we explore how false election information violates democratic values; in other words, we examine the extent to which and the manner in which false election information impugns the legitimacy of Australian elections, and in particular, the democratic legitimacy criteria of ‘effective participation’ and ‘enlightened understanding’. These criteria are central pillars of the free speech condition that enables any authentic democracy to function properly. Because there are few incentives to desist from polluting the election information environment and also because of the significant social costs it entails, the problem should be approached as a collective action problem rather than as an issue of individualised rights. This distinction is consistent with jurisprudence on the freedom of political communication implied in the Australian Constitution and endorsed in multiple judgements, as we show in detail in Chapter 5 . We conclude this chapter by arguing that compulsory voting places an extra duty on the Australian state to ensure that voting takes place in a relatively clean information environment.
... Some of that disinformation emanated from the highest levels; for example, the Washington Post fact-checking service reported that, at the completion of his incumbency, US President, Donald Trump, had made more than 30,000 false and misleading claims during his term of office (Kessler et al., 2021). Such disinformation is thought to have changed the outcome of the election (see Gunther et al., 2016;Napoli, 2018). Democracies around the world are now witnessing the ascendance of what has been labelled 'post-truth' politics; a politics in which even the value of objective facts is disputed. ...
Chapter
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Because it has been in operation for some time, the SA model embodied in s 113 of the Electoral Act 1983 (SA) offers us many useful lessons about the benefits and pitfalls of truth in election advertising laws and what to avoid and pursue in an ideal-type regime. We therefore explore in detail how it has operated and the extent to which it has been successful. We also examine, in detail, its constitutionality in a number of important test cases. To improve its efficacy, we suggest a variety of ways in which it could be strengthened by amending specific elements of the law.
... Some of that disinformation emanated from the highest levels; for example, the Washington Post fact-checking service reported that, at the completion of his incumbency, US President, Donald Trump, had made more than 30,000 false and misleading claims during his term of office (Kessler et al., 2021). Such disinformation is thought to have changed the outcome of the election (see Gunther et al., 2016;Napoli, 2018). Democracies around the world are now witnessing the ascendance of what has been labelled 'post-truth' politics; a politics in which even the value of objective facts is disputed. ...
Chapter
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In this chapter we explore the short- and long-term effects of false election information on electoral and other democratic processes from both a theoretical and empirical perspective. We examine the supply and demand side of the mis- and disinformation stories, drawing on the literature in behavioural economics and psychology to explain the underlying mechanisms at play in the demand side (consumers) and the motivations on the supply side (producers). We show that, due to the high stakes and unavoidably competitive nature of modern elections on the one hand, and perverse financial incentives within the information market on the other, election mis- and disinformation will be difficult to combat without a legal remedy.
... Some of that disinformation emanated from the highest levels; for example, the Washington Post fact-checking service reported that, at the completion of his incumbency, US President, Donald Trump, had made more than 30,000 false and misleading claims during his term of office (Kessler et al., 2021). Such disinformation is thought to have changed the outcome of the election (see Gunther et al., 2016;Napoli, 2018). Democracies around the world are now witnessing the ascendance of what has been labelled 'post-truth' politics; a politics in which even the value of objective facts is disputed. ...
Chapter
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In this chapter we examine how the false election information problem has been managed so far in Australia. Up to this point, mainly non-legislative means, such as fact-checking services, voluntary codes of conduct and civil society remedies have been used. Defamation laws have also been invoked to address the problem and we assess their capacity to perform this function. Although there is value in these alternative methods, we question whether they will be sufficient to adequately combat the problem, particularly in the digital age. We conclude that they should be used in conjunction with the legal solution we propose.
... Some of that disinformation emanated from the highest levels; for example, the Washington Post fact-checking service reported that, at the completion of his incumbency, US President, Donald Trump, had made more than 30,000 false and misleading claims during his term of office (Kessler et al., 2021). Such disinformation is thought to have changed the outcome of the election (see Gunther et al., 2016;Napoli, 2018). Democracies around the world are now witnessing the ascendance of what has been labelled 'post-truth' politics; a politics in which even the value of objective facts is disputed. ...
... Some of that disinformation emanated from the highest levels; for example, the Washington Post fact-checking service reported that, at the completion of his incumbency, US President, Donald Trump, had made more than 30,000 false and misleading claims during his term of office (Kessler et al., 2021). Such disinformation is thought to have changed the outcome of the election (see Gunther et al., 2016;Napoli, 2018). Democracies around the world are now witnessing the ascendance of what has been labelled 'post-truth' politics; a politics in which even the value of objective facts is disputed. ...
Chapter
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In this chapter we offer a review of trials and experiments in truth in election advertising legislation in other comparable settings in order to see what lessons might be taken from them. Analysis of legislation in other jurisdictions reveals the multiple challenges facing this type of legislation and is instructive for those considering a similar legal approach. These challenges have also enriched our own efforts to render s 113 of the Electoral Act 1985 (SA) (as well as s 297A of the Electoral Act 1992 (ACT)) more robust, operable and successful in addressing the problem of false campaign statements and improving the quality of electoral discourse. The relevant trial settings are New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.
... There is a growing sentiment of mistrust in news, authority, and most of all platforms . Algorithms for instance, facilitated a personalized feed that constraints one's own worldview via filter bubbles and echo chambers (Napoli 2018). Numerous scholars have explicitly articulated trust issues in news, with one study showing that mistrust in news has increased three percentage points from 24% in 2016 to 27% in 2019 ; another stated that news sharing on social media platforms 'has increasingly come to be perceived as a predatory one' (Flew 2020, p. 4). ...
Chapter
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The relatively short relationship between digital platforms and the news media has been characterized by constant evolution and conflict. As the economics of journalism have faltered and digital platforms have risen to become prominent gateways to the news, that relationship has increasingly caught the attention of policymakers. This chapter focuses on recent developments in three countries (Germany, France, and Australia) that have been particularly active in intervening in the relationship between digital platforms and the press. It highlights national government efforts to require platforms such as Google and Facebook to compensate news organizations for distributing their content. This chapter provides an overview of these efforts and their underlying political dynamics. It concludes with an assessment of the broader implications of the actions that these countries have taken and a consideration of future and alternative policy options.
... There is a growing sentiment of mistrust in news, authority, and most of all platforms . Algorithms for instance, facilitated a personalized feed that constraints one's own worldview via filter bubbles and echo chambers (Napoli 2018). Numerous scholars have explicitly articulated trust issues in news, with one study showing that mistrust in news has increased three percentage points from 24% in 2016 to 27% in 2019 ; another stated that news sharing on social media platforms 'has increasingly come to be perceived as a predatory one' (Flew 2020, p. 4). ...
Chapter
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This chapter offers an account of how alcohol marketers have used social media platforms over the past fifteen years, and argues that understanding the engineering, operation and consequences of platforms’ data-driven, participatory and opaque advertising model is fundamental to addressing larger questions of platform regulation in the public interest. It suggests that through the case of alcohol marketing we can understand and assess many of the novel regulatory challenges posed by the advertising model of digital platform companies. Thus, in this chapter we appraise some of the existing alcohol industry and platform approaches to self-regulation and suggest some principles for regulating marketing that is data-driven, participatory and opaque, and connect these to larger debates about the future regulation of platforms. The critical assessment of the novel ways in which platform marketing integrates participatory forms of audience engagement with the prospecting, segmentation and targeting of consumers is crucial for developing an accountable regulatory regime that allows for effective governance of the commercial activities of marketers and brands on platforms.
... There is a growing sentiment of mistrust in news, authority, and most of all platforms . Algorithms for instance, facilitated a personalized feed that constraints one's own worldview via filter bubbles and echo chambers (Napoli 2018). Numerous scholars have explicitly articulated trust issues in news, with one study showing that mistrust in news has increased three percentage points from 24% in 2016 to 27% in 2019 ; another stated that news sharing on social media platforms 'has increasingly come to be perceived as a predatory one' (Flew 2020, p. 4). ...
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This chapter traces how dominant U.S. platform companies attempt to influence policy debates, focusing on (a) the policy issues they engage, (b) the policy preferences they communicate, and (c) what these communications reveal about their regulatory and platform governance philosophies. Amid calls for private–public platform oversight frameworks, these policy communications provide insight into what such co-governance regimes might look like in practice. Specifically, platforms seek partnerships extending beyond nation-state boundaries, reflecting the transnational scope of their business operations. Domestically, they call for a form of “frictionless regulation”: light and narrow regulatory oversight confined to baseline standard-setting, receptive to the private sector's ongoing feedback, and prioritizing fast responsiveness to market needs over the slow and deliberative responsiveness to the public, typical of democratic governance.
... There is a growing sentiment of mistrust in news, authority, and most of all platforms . Algorithms for instance, facilitated a personalized feed that constraints one's own worldview via filter bubbles and echo chambers (Napoli 2018). Numerous scholars have explicitly articulated trust issues in news, with one study showing that mistrust in news has increased three percentage points from 24% in 2016 to 27% in 2019 ; another stated that news sharing on social media platforms 'has increasingly come to be perceived as a predatory one' (Flew 2020, p. 4). ...
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As commercial journalism collapses around the world, the platforms’ culpability for defunding news media has attracted increasing scrutiny. Journalism’s sustainability is increasingly threatened by the Facebook and Google duopoly, which devours the lion’s share of digital advertising revenue, at a time when democratic societies desperately need reliable news and information. Thus far, policy measures to rebalance this power relationship have been limited. Moreover, policy debates focused on these issues too often elide the core root of the problem in both diminishing journalism and driving the platforms toward antisocial behavior: namely, unbridled capitalism. With this problem in mind, this essay explores more radical options toward buffering our core news and information systems from corrosive commercial logics.
... There is a growing sentiment of mistrust in news, authority, and most of all platforms . Algorithms for instance, facilitated a personalized feed that constraints one's own worldview via filter bubbles and echo chambers (Napoli 2018). Numerous scholars have explicitly articulated trust issues in news, with one study showing that mistrust in news has increased three percentage points from 24% in 2016 to 27% in 2019 ; another stated that news sharing on social media platforms 'has increasingly come to be perceived as a predatory one' (Flew 2020, p. 4). ...
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This chapter analyses examples of conflicts in standards that may illustrate the need for digital platforms to adopt a more proactive approach to corporate social responsibility (CSR). It asks what changes platform media would need to make to ‘take responsibility’ in the digital landscape., and undertaken an exploration of existing regulatory approaches and analyses of practice, to propose an enhanced vision of digital corporations’ application of CSR to benefit individuals and societies. The suggestion is that digital platforms be constructed as publishers of information, requiring them to be accountable for material carried on their sites.
... There is a growing sentiment of mistrust in news, authority, and most of all platforms . Algorithms for instance, facilitated a personalized feed that constraints one's own worldview via filter bubbles and echo chambers (Napoli 2018). Numerous scholars have explicitly articulated trust issues in news, with one study showing that mistrust in news has increased three percentage points from 24% in 2016 to 27% in 2019 ; another stated that news sharing on social media platforms 'has increasingly come to be perceived as a predatory one' (Flew 2020, p. 4). ...
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Most experts and journalists agree on the huge importance of the European Union’s Digital Services Act (hereinafter DSA). But can the first proposal published by the EU Commission in December 2020 live up to the expectations expressed ahead? The business model of social media platforms has been criticized for years, but since the Cambridge Analytica scandal, this criticism has expanded beyond a relatively small circle of experts. Lawmakers around the world have tried to push platforms to enforce applicable law and take responsibility. This contribution looks at the key obligations under the DSA and how they are monitored for compliance. It also presents the provisions for greater transparency and accountability. Finally, it looks at the possible consequences if the DSA were to come into force in its current form.
... There is a growing sentiment of mistrust in news, authority, and most of all platforms . Algorithms for instance, facilitated a personalized feed that constraints one's own worldview via filter bubbles and echo chambers (Napoli 2018). Numerous scholars have explicitly articulated trust issues in news, with one study showing that mistrust in news has increased three percentage points from 24% in 2016 to 27% in 2019 ; another stated that news sharing on social media platforms 'has increasingly come to be perceived as a predatory one' (Flew 2020, p. 4). ...
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There are rapidly growing concerns worldwide about the impact of content aggregation and distribution through digital platforms on traditional media industries and society in general. These have given rise to policy and regulation across the social pillar, including issues of privacy, moderation, and cyberbullying; the public interest/infosphere pillar, with issues such as fake news, the democratic deficit, and the crisis in journalism; and the competition pillar, involving issues based on platform dominance in advertising markets. The cultural pillar, involving the impact of SVODs on the ability of content regulation to support local production capacity, is often bracketed out of these debates. We argue this divide is increasingly untenable due to the convergent complexities of contemporary media and communications policy and regulation. We pursue this argument by offering three issues that bring policy and regulation together across the platform-SVOD divide: digital and global players have been beyond the reach of established broadcasting regulation; the nature of the Silicon Valley playbook for disrupting media markets; and platforms and SVODs now need not only to be aggregators but also contributors to local cultures. We draw on three examples: the European Union, Canada and Australia.
... There is a growing sentiment of mistrust in news, authority, and most of all platforms . Algorithms for instance, facilitated a personalized feed that constraints one's own worldview via filter bubbles and echo chambers (Napoli 2018). Numerous scholars have explicitly articulated trust issues in news, with one study showing that mistrust in news has increased three percentage points from 24% in 2016 to 27% in 2019 ; another stated that news sharing on social media platforms 'has increasingly come to be perceived as a predatory one' (Flew 2020, p. 4). ...
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In recent years, the growing popularity of services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ has raised complex challenges for media policy. Established policy approaches in a range of areas including audio-visual licensing, classification, censorship, and local production support are now being disrupted as governments grapple with the “Netflix effect” and its implications for national markets and institutions. Meanwhile, consumption practices are also changing as the algorithmically curated interfaces of SVOD services invite audiences to discover content in new ways. In particular, the use of personalised recommendation and other algorithmic filtering techniques has prompted discussion of how SVODs manage the visibility of different kinds of content—and whether these discovery environments require a policy response. This chapter explores how discoverability has emerged as a topic of debate, specifically in relation to SVOD services, and how this is connected to other precedents in audio-visual law and policy such as prominence regulation. We reflect on the many tensions inherent in this area of policy—which exists at the interface of media and platform regulation—and consider some of the normative questions raised when governments intervene in audiences’ content choices.
... There is a growing sentiment of mistrust in news, authority, and most of all platforms . Algorithms for instance, facilitated a personalized feed that constraints one's own worldview via filter bubbles and echo chambers (Napoli 2018). Numerous scholars have explicitly articulated trust issues in news, with one study showing that mistrust in news has increased three percentage points from 24% in 2016 to 27% in 2019 ; another stated that news sharing on social media platforms 'has increasingly come to be perceived as a predatory one' (Flew 2020, p. 4). ...
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As the Australian government has legislated for a ‘News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code’ to compel Google and Facebook to pay for news content, platform regulation in Australia has prompted a heated discussion worldwide. Questionable business practices have incited issues such as anti-competition behaviour, online harms, disinformation, algorithmic advertising, trade of data, privacy breaches and so on. Consequently, these technology tycoons are reinscribing industries and societies alike, posing a threat to digital democracy. This chapter examines how Facebook and WeChat are (or should be) regulated in Australia, the current regulatory frameworks, and the overall effectiveness of self-regulation. Through the lenses of comparative research, this study is focused on infrastructuralisation, techno-nationalism (censorship), and civil society (media diversity), to identify distinct features and common themes in platform regulation and explore possible solutions to regulating global platforms in Australia.
... There is a growing sentiment of mistrust in news, authority, and most of all platforms . Algorithms for instance, facilitated a personalized feed that constraints one's own worldview via filter bubbles and echo chambers (Napoli 2018). Numerous scholars have explicitly articulated trust issues in news, with one study showing that mistrust in news has increased three percentage points from 24% in 2016 to 27% in 2019 ; another stated that news sharing on social media platforms 'has increasingly come to be perceived as a predatory one' (Flew 2020, p. 4). ...
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One of the paradoxes of the misinformation and ‘fake news’ debates are that they require a greater degree of trust in media, digital platforms and governments in order to combat conspiracy theories, when in fact distrust of media, digital platforms and governments is part of a wider crisis of trust in institutions and expertise. This suggests that we need a more sophisticated analysis of the politics of expertise and how they intersect with both policies towards digital platforms and shifts in the political sphere. Drawing upon the work of Thomas Piketty on shifts in electoral politics, and Pippa Norris on the rise of populism, it is argued that debates about tech policy are largely played out between educated elites from ‘liberal’ and ‘cosmopolitan’ perspectives, which leaves them open to populist critique. One of the reasons why there are greater calls to regulate digital platforms is the rise of political populism, which can leave digital activists in a political bind: they favour measures to rein in the power of ‘Big Tech’ in principle, but are very wary of any measures perceived to increase the power of nation states with regards to the Internet.
... There is a growing sentiment of mistrust in news, authority, and most of all platforms . Algorithms for instance, facilitated a personalized feed that constraints one's own worldview via filter bubbles and echo chambers (Napoli 2018). Numerous scholars have explicitly articulated trust issues in news, with one study showing that mistrust in news has increased three percentage points from 24% in 2016 to 27% in 2019 ; another stated that news sharing on social media platforms 'has increasingly come to be perceived as a predatory one' (Flew 2020, p. 4). ...
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Who should decide what content is permissible online? Platforms will always exercise some degree of discretion over content moderation, and ensuring that platforms exercise their discretionary powers responsibly is a large part of making governance legitimate. In this chapter, we argue that improving the self-regulation of internal governance practices of platforms is a critical component of any regulatory project. Our argument is that platforms must always have a role in regulating lawful speech and that regulating ordinary, lawful speech is critical to influencing cultures and addressing harm. We draw on the results of a qualitative study involving a broad group of participants who actively work to influence how platforms govern their users. We offer a simple proof in the moral responsibilities that platforms bear to address the pressing need for cultural change in violence against women—responsibilities that cannot fully be carried out or overseen by states or other external actors.
... There is a growing sentiment of mistrust in news, authority, and most of all platforms . Algorithms for instance, facilitated a personalized feed that constraints one's own worldview via filter bubbles and echo chambers (Napoli 2018). Numerous scholars have explicitly articulated trust issues in news, with one study showing that mistrust in news has increased three percentage points from 24% in 2016 to 27% in 2019 ; another stated that news sharing on social media platforms 'has increasingly come to be perceived as a predatory one' (Flew 2020, p. 4). ...
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In recent years, researchers have scrutinised the power of digital platforms in the news industry. However, while digital platforms are powerful actors, there is a tendency to emphasise this power at the expense of other institutions. In this chapter we examine the critical role that government, regulatory authorities and the news media played in developing the Australian News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code. We explore how long-standing relationships between sections of the media and the government, and the regulatory activism of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, influenced the final form of the Code. In doing so, we offer a nuanced account of platform power that contextualises their actions in relation to the residual institutional power of local actors.
... There is a growing sentiment of mistrust in news, authority, and most of all platforms . Algorithms for instance, facilitated a personalized feed that constraints one's own worldview via filter bubbles and echo chambers (Napoli 2018). Numerous scholars have explicitly articulated trust issues in news, with one study showing that mistrust in news has increased three percentage points from 24% in 2016 to 27% in 2019 ; another stated that news sharing on social media platforms 'has increasingly come to be perceived as a predatory one' (Flew 2020, p. 4). ...
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A relatively small number of global Internet giants—Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, and Netflix—have come under intense and ongoing fire for precipitating a twin crisis of journalism and the media, destroying democracy, and centralizing control over the Internet. In response, a new wave of Internet regulation is now in the making in one country after another. This chapter agrees that a forceful response to the platforms is overdue but raises concerns that the case against GAFAM + has become orthodoxy, anchored in cherry-picked evidence and a tendency to see these firms as the cause of all perceived woes. I also argue that while attempts to regulate digital platforms by the standards of broadcasting regulation may be politically expedient, this approach rests on superficial analogies. It also ignores the fact that the media industries have developed in close proximity to the vastly larger telecoms, consumer electronics and banking firms since the mid-nineteenth century. The last sections of this chapter offer four principles of structural and behavioural regulation drawn from this history as guides for a new generation of internet regulation today: structural separation (break-ups), line of business restrictions (firewalls), public obligations and public alternatives.
... Such websites play a critical role in clarifying false news but very time-consuming and need expertise. Therefore, it is quite challenging to detect and analyze the data authenticity (Napoli 2018). ...
Article
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Nowadays, current events related to diverse fields are published in newspapers, shared on social media and broadcasted on radio and television. The explosive growth in online news contents has made it very difficult to discriminate between real and fake. As a result, fake news has become prevalent and immensely challenging to analyze and verify. Indeed, it is a big challenge to the government and public to debate the situation depending on case to case. For this purpose, a mechanism has to be taken on fact-checking rumors and statements particularly those that get thousands of views and likes before being debunked and refuted by expert sources. Various machine learning techniques have been used to detect and classify fake news. However, these approaches are restricted in terms of accuracy. This study has applied a random forest (RF) classifier to predict fake or real news. For this purpose, twenty-three (23) textual features are extracted from ISOT Fake News Dataset. Four best feature selection techniques like chi², univariate, information gain and feature importance are used to select fourteen best features out of twenty-three. The proposed model and other benchmark techniques are evaluated on benchmark dataset using best features. Experimental findings show that the proposed model outperformed state-of-the-art machine learning techniques such as GBM, XGBoost and Ada Boost Regression Model in terms of classification accuracy.
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This chapter introduces the central theme of the fifth volume of the European Yearbook of Constitutional Law: Constitutional Law in the Digital Era. It outlines the challenges that the use of digital technologies by both the public and the private sectors pose to fundamental constitutional values, such as democracy, the principle of legality, separation of powers, and fundamental rights. In doing so, it makes references to the chapters contained in this volume.
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In Chap. 2 I characterize the three identified groups of current problems in public communication: disinformation and denialism, hate speech, and contempt for political correctness. I also analyze the social actors responsible for them and the actors that are usually atacked by these speeches; the historical and current structural, economic, social and cultural conditions that favor their development; and their personal, social, communicative and political consequences. Therefore, I examine the contemporary threats to democratic public communication as well as the communication and social rules that they challenge.
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Decentralized social networks like Mastodon and BlueSky are trending topics that have drawn much attention and discussion in recent years. By devolving powers from the central node to the end users, decentralized social networks aim to cure existing pathologies on the centralized platforms and have been viewed by many as the future of the Internet. This article critically and systematically assesses the decentralization project's prospect for communications online. It uses normative theories of free speech to examine whether and how the decentralization design could facilitate users' freedom of expression online. The analysis shows that both promises and pitfalls exist, highlighting the importance of value-based design in this area. Two most salient issues for the design of the decentralized networks are: how to balance the decentralization ideal with constant needs of centralization on the network, and how to empower users to make them truly capable of exercising their control. The article then uses some design examples, such as the shared blocklist and the opt-in search function, to illustrate the value considerations underlying the design choices. Some tentative proposals for law and policy interventions are offered to better facilitate the design of the new network. Rather than providing clear answers, the article seeks to map the value implications of the design choices, highlight the stakes, and point directions for future research.
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Academics and legal practitioners unanimously agree that two of the main justifications for protecting free speech are autonomy and democracy. Free speech contributes to both the self-development of individuals, as well as to robust democratic processes, and should therefore be protected. This is also the position of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). However, the explicit endorsement of both justifications might give rise to normative questions regarding its protection of commercial speech. While the Court has acknowledged that commercial speech does not contribute significantly to self-development nor democracy, it still awards that form of speech a relatively high level of protection. Moreover, a compelling case can be made suggesting that some forms of commercial speech, such as commercial advertising, might even harm those values. This argument is investigated closely to demonstrate an internal contradiction within ECtHR jurisprudence, between its rhetoric focused on respecting autonomy and democracy, and its practice that might in reality undermine these values.
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Political misinformation is a danger to society, and echo chambers exacerbate the spread and exposure to misinformation, creating harms as severe as those associated with the January 6 US insurrection. Thus, it is important to understand who is most susceptible to believing it. The current study builds on previous work from Rhodes (Polit. Commun. Commun. 39(1), 1–22 (2021) [3]) and aims to explore whether certain groups within the US Republican Party are more susceptible to believing political misinformation than other groups within the Republican Party. Findings indicate that Republicans who identify as having a ‘strong’ political affiliation are significantly more likely to believe political misinformation than those Republicans who identify as having a ‘not very strong’ political affiliation. While Rhodes (Polit. Commun. Commun. 39(1), 1–22 (2021) [3]) found that echo chambers did not impact the entirety of Republicans in their sample, the current study examined whether echo chambers interacted significantly with the strength of political affiliation. However, no significant interaction was found, indicating that echo chambers impacted neither ‘strong’ Republicans nor ‘not very strong’ Republicans. The results provide implications for which groups of people are most susceptible to believing political misinformation and should be the priority in directing ways to mitigate their believability.
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Filter Bubbles refer to a state of intellectual isolation that can result from people becoming encapsulated in streams of data. When considering factors that contribute to the language choices of multilingual learners (MLs), specifically in the primary content areas of schooling, the Filter Bubble concept easily transposes into the field of education. According to Quintos, “multicultural educators focus on an education for a more democratic and socially just society” (p. 238). However, standards of learning chosen by states and their school districts represent the values of those who sit in positions of power and govern the concepts to which students are exposed. This chapter endeavors to respond to these questions within the intersections of societal constructs and the schooling contexts of English language arts, science, social studies, and mathematics, and to determine possibilities in which MLs can be provided optimal language choices and afforded the spaces to exercise these choices.
Thesis
This thesis reviewed scholarship in the field of media and cultural studies with specific focus on audience studies. Literature review was focused on key themes such as data practices and experiences, data privacy, advertising surveillance and issues around informed consent by users of digital platforms. The review identified a gap in research about user understanding of data exchange with digital platforms and experiences with personalised advertising in India. A mix of qualitative research methods were used to evaluate contemporary experiences of participants engaging with their personal data. This research explored the process of converting digital data trail into customised advertising for smartphone owners and their incentives to participate in this exchange of data for access to app-based services. Industry Experts working in media agencies and marketing function of advertisers were interviewed to understand various sources of digital data that are used for creating affinity audiences. Owners of smartphones in Mumbai and Delhi reflected on their awareness of automated data collection, trust threshold for sharing sensitive data and understanding of advertising technology. Participants discussed the affirmative nature of digital platforms and described services that were critical to their day-to-day functioning. Participants had a gradation of trust and all the apps needed to clear thresholds to be considered reliable. Most of the popular digital platforms were highly trusted on data safety. Digital platforms that scored high on trust quotient were also believed to obfuscate relevant information about the usage and storage of their data in lengthy terms and conditions. Four main reasons stated for not investing time to understand the use of software as service contracts were, There Is No Control (TINC), Fear of Missing (FOMO) on popular apps, there is no time (TINT) to read the lengthy terms and conditions and there is no option (TINO) as there was no alternative to the apps. Participants outlined multiple instances where they saw advertising about topics that they had recently discussed in the vicinity of their smartphones. This led to a widespread belief that smartphone apps such as Facebook and Instagram were listening to their conversations. Industry participants were able to describe an extensive array of practices that were used to identify the right target audience for their campaign, using algorithms running on large databases built on behavioural and transactional data. These processes created highly accurate predictive abilities that enabled highly accurate profiling of Internet users. Some Everyday Users were aware of these processes and the analysis identified them as algorithm-aware. Others were not equipped or motivated to discover information to understand advertising technology. In the absence of this information, participants used heuristics to understand the ability of digital platforms to deliver advertising that is so relevant to their current personal situation. This common-sense explanation for personalised advertising (Ads are listening to me) is named Folk Theory of Customised Advertising. The research highlights the enabling nature of digital technologies in India and outlines a requirement for an easy-to-use toolkit for everyday smartphone users to become algorithm-aware and privacy conscious.
Chapter
This paper analyzes the phenomenon of the spread of false information in cyberspace (fake news or disinformation). Starting from the contextualization and conceptualization of fake news, an examination of the legal models currently existing in the European Union, Germany, and the United States is undertaken to deal with the phenomenon. Then, a critical assessment of the Brazilian Superior Electoral Court cases is made when judging the alleged disclosure of fake news in the 2018 Brazilian presidential campaign. Finally, the work concludes with assessing of the compatibility of the different models of combating disinformation with the exercise of freedom of expression by users of cyberspace.KeywordsFake newsDisinformationFreedom of expressionElections
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O principal objetivo deste artigo é discutir as transformações na formação de opiniões a partir das mediações algorítmicas presentes nas plataformas digitais. Com a intenção de não abandonar as questões sociais e analisar sentidos e tecnologias de forma separada, os resultados apresentados foram construídos a partir de um estudo de recepção de matriz sociocultural com oito professores sindicalizados e oito evangélicos neopentecostais residentes em Curitiba (PR). Considera-se que há uma lógica mercadológica que orienta a manutenção de poder das plataformas ao mesmo tempo em que os filtros ditam o que será consumido e ignorado, porém, as dimensões estruturantes — igreja, família, trabalho etc. — seguem relevantes no processo de formação das opiniões.
Article
In an era of information profusion, Internet giants play a key role in determining the content that individuals consume online. Social media platforms, for instance, claim that their automated filters can provide users with a personalised online experience and end internet chaos. However, these platforms today use automated filtering extensively to curate content disseminated online in an opaque way to their users. Some believe that the negative impact of automated filtering is overstated since it empowers individuals to enjoy a tailored online experience based on their preferences; however, others argue that it has severe repercussions. This paper first sheds light on the Internet’s role in reshaping the future of the media sector and its role as a watchdog. Secondly, it discusses the so-called “Automated Online Content Filtering” and a number of correlated concepts. It then analyses using a socio-legal approach the related controversy and the consequential implications of employing automated filtering on public sphere. Finally, it comparatively explains the adopted regulatory measures and recommended steps to minimise the prejudice caused by these filters. The paper concludes that due to profit-based engagement optimisation which drives social media platforms to de-prioritise content likely to be less engaging, automated filtering may amplify biases and extremism, induce the proliferation of false news and inflammatory content, and exacerbate the manipulation of the electorate, algorithmic bias, and censorship. Thus, the international community must take concrete regulatory measures to mitigate such ramifications and sway Internet giants to adopt standards that would lead to a healthier digital public sphere.
Thesis
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Gigantes da tecnologia, como Google e Facebook, estão entre as principais plataformas que buscam via algoritmos dimensionar atitudes de indivíduos conectados e, posteriormente, oferecer conteúdos de relevância para um consumo personalizado. Os efeitos da pós-verdade, das fake news e dos algoritmos do Facebook têm sido fontes de questionamentos desde a eleição presidencial dos Estados Unidos, em 2016. No Brasil de 2018, além do avanço do populismo de direita radical e do aumento da polarização política, os efeitos desse trinômio foram sentidos. Esta pesquisa parte do pressuposto de que o modelo de poder e exclusão formado pelos filtros algorítmicos fomentou as reconfigurações da espiral do silêncio, teoria elaborada por Elizabeth Noelle-Neumann (2010), durante o período eleitoral e após a eleição de 2018. O objeto de estudo consiste as implicações das mediações algorítmicas no que diz respeito à opinião pública e à recepção de notícias por integrantes de igrejas evangélicas neopentecostais e por professores sindicalizados da rede pública que residem em Curitiba (PR). O objetivo geral é compreender de que forma as mediações algorítmicas interferem na mediação e na recepção de notícias por integrantes da Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus e do Sindicato dos Trabalhadores em Educação Pública do Paraná (APP-Sindicato). O objeto empírico é marcado por entrevistas em profundidade com 16 participantes – oito de cada dimensão analisada. A pesquisa também conta com objetivos específicos, definidos por: a) discutir as transformações no jornalismo e na opinião pública a partir da perspectiva dos filtros algorítmicos; b) analisar as reconfigurações da espiral do silêncio e da opinião pública a partir das mediações algorítmicas e do contexto das eleições de 2018; c) identificar as implicações nas mediações e recepção nas esferas analisadas após o período eleitoral; d) verificar se o cenário de polarização política aliado ao consumo nas redes sociais impulsiona o silenciamento; e e) compreender quais os efeitos dos filtros e da efemeridade das plataformas digitais na formação da memória social. Os procedimentos metodológicos organizam-se em três etapas: 1) realização de levantamento bibliográfico e articulação com o contexto político social brasileiro; 2) aplicação de questionário socioeconômico estruturado para definição dos sujeitos participantes das entrevistas; 3) verificação da recepção de matriz sociocultural mediante aplicação de roteiro semiestruturado de entrevista em profundidade. Os resultados indicam, entre outros fatores, que a espiral do silêncio se manifesta especialmente por meio do silenciamento de acontecimentos de interesse público ocasionado pelas mediações algorítmicas. Mais do que simplesmente apontar respostas sobre mediação e recepção no contexto das plataformas digitais, a pesquisa procura trazer contribuições para pensar sobre o papel das dimensões estruturantes na formação de leitores de conteúdos noticiosos a partir do Mapa do Sistema de Mediações Algorítmicas.
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This study investigates the impact of personalized news recommender system design on selective exposure, elaboration, and knowledge. Scholars have worried that proliferation of personalization technologies will degrade public opinion by isolating people from challenging perspectives. Informed by selective exposure research, this study examines personalized news recommender system designs using a communication mediation model. Recommender system design choices examined include computer-generated personalized recommendations, user-customized recommendations, and full or limited news information environments based on recommendations. Results from an online mock election experiment with Ohio adult Internet users indicate increased selective exposure when using personalized news systems. However, portals recommending news based on explicit user customization result in significantly higher counterattitudinal news exposure. Expected positive effects on elaboration and indirect effects on knowledge through elaboration are found only in personalized news recommender systems that display only recommended headlines. Lastly, personalized news recommender system use has a negative direct effect on knowledge.
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Introduction, 351. — I. The conditions of market efficiency, 353. — II. Neoclassical external economies: a digression, 356. — III. Statical externalities: an ordering, 363. — IV. Comments, 371. — V. Efficiency, markets and choice of institutions, 377.
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A Black family enters a coffee shop in a small Texas town. A white man places a card on their table. The card reads, “You have just been paid a visit by the Ku Klux Klan.” The family stands and leaves. © 1993 by Mari J. Matsuda, Charles R Lawrence III, Richard Delgado, and Kimberlè Williams Crenshaw.
It is beyond the scope of this paper to review these bodies of literature. For helpful reviews, see Derek E. Bambauer, Shopping Badly: Cognitive Biases, Communications, and the Fallacy of the Marketplace of Ideas
  • Parmy Olson
Parmy Olson, Why Your Brain May Be Wired to Believe Fake News, FORBES (FEB. 1, 2017, 5:35PM), https://perma.cc/UN3J-DFAC. It is beyond the scope of this paper to review these bodies of literature. For helpful reviews, see Derek E. Bambauer, Shopping Badly: Cognitive Biases, Communications, and the Fallacy of the Marketplace of Ideas, 77 U. COL. L. REV. 649 (2006);
  • E G See
  • Owen M Fiss
See, e.g., OWEN M. FISS, THE IRONY OF FREE SPEECH 25-6 (1996).
that the seemingly increased pervasiveness of falsity in public discussion is a phenomenon that may possibly be a consequence of a strong free speech culture, but is certainly not a phenomenon that a free speech regime is likely to be able to remedy
  • Francis M Bator
See Richard A. Tybout, Pricing Pollution and Other Negative Externalities, 3 BELL J. ECON. & MGMT. SCI. 252 (Spring 1972). Therefore, as Schauer notes in a statement from 2009 that sounds particularly contemporary, "[W]e are left with the conclusion that the seemingly increased pervasiveness of falsity in public discussion is a phenomenon that may possibly be a consequence of a strong free speech culture, but is certainly not a phenomenon that a free speech regime is likely to be able to remedy." Schauer, supra note 46 at 911-912. 181. See, e.g., Francis M. Bator, The Anatomy of Market Failure, 72 QUARTERLY J. ECON. 351, 3633-371 (1958).
For a more general overview of forms of market failure that may affect the marketplace of ideas, see Bush, supra note 17, nn. 47-90 and accompanying text; see also C. Edwin Baker, Scope of the First Amendment Freedom of Speech
  • Gregory Brazeal
Gregory Brazeal, How Much Does a Belief Cost? Revisiting the Marketplace of Ideas. 21 S. CAL. INTERDISC. L.J. 46 (2011). For a more general overview of forms of market failure that may affect the marketplace of ideas, see Bush, supra note 17, nn. 47-90 and accompanying text; see also C. Edwin Baker, Scope of the First Amendment Freedom of Speech, 25 UCLA L. REV. 964 (1978) nn 61-83 and accompanying text.
According to the market failure orthodoxy, inefficiency in the marketplace provides a prima facie case for public intervention
  • Am Pol Sci
AM. POL. SCI. REV. 417 (1984) ("According to the market failure orthodoxy, inefficiency in the marketplace provides a prima facie case for public intervention").
Because public goods are non-rivalrous (one person's consumption does not detract from another's) and nonexcludable (difficult to monetize and to exclude from free riders), they differ from other commodities, like cars or clothes
  • See Victor Pickard
See Victor Pickard, The Great Evasion: Confronting Market Failure in American Media Policy, 31 CRITICAL STUDIES STUD. IN MEDIA COMM.153, 154 (2014) ("Because public goods are non-rivalrous (one person's consumption does not detract from another's) and nonexcludable (difficult to monetize and to exclude from free riders), they differ from other commodities, like cars or clothes, within a capitalistic economy").
A person can consume a public good without paying for it, since it may be difficult or impossible to exclude any person from consumption"). 199. Id
  • See Hamilton
See Hamilton, supra note 100 at 8 ("A person can consume a public good without paying for it, since it may be difficult or impossible to exclude any person from consumption"). 199. Id. at 31-32. 200. Id.
Are Amazon, Facebook and Google Monopolies? Are They Undermining Democracy? Taplin is Persuasive
  • E G See
  • Brad Auerbach
See, e.g., Brad Auerbach, Are Amazon, Facebook and Google Monopolies? Are They Undermining Democracy? Taplin is Persuasive, FORBES (May 26, 2017), https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradauerbach/2017/05/26/taplin/#4f7d67d26daa, [https://perma.cc/YHW4-XVYS];
We Need to Nationalise Google, Facebook, and Amazon. Here's Why, THE GUARDIAN
  • See Nick Srnicek
See Nick Srnicek, We Need to Nationalise Google, Facebook, and Amazon. Here's Why, THE GUARDIAN (Aug. 30, 2017), https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/30/nationalise-google-facebookamazon-data-monopoly-platform-public-interest, [https://perma.cc/HG3K-S8KN].
articulations of public interest principles inherent in the professional practice of journalism parallel, to some extent articulations of the public interest that are found in the realms of media regulation and policy
  • See Napoli
See Napoli, supra note 123 at 753 ("... articulations of public interest principles inherent in the professional practice of journalism parallel, to some extent articulations of the public interest that are found in the realms of media regulation and policy.").
Platforms that want public trust should be employing many more journalists than they presently do and using their knowledge to imbue automated process with values
  • Emily Bell
Emily Bell, We Can't Let Tech Giants, Like Facebook and Twitter, Control Our News Values, THE GUARDIAN (Aug. 31, 2014), https://www.theguardian.com/media/mediablog/2014/aug/31/tech-giants-facebook-twitter-algorithm-editorial-values, [https://perma.cc/T8BQ-SL66] ("Platforms that want public trust should be employing many more journalists than they presently do and using their knowledge to imbue automated process with values.... Accountability is not part of Silicon Valley's culture. But surely as news moves beyond paper and publisher, it must become so.").
Introducing the Facebook Journalism Project
  • E G See
  • Fidji Simo
See, e.g., Fidji Simo, Introducing the Facebook Journalism Project (Jan. 11, 2017), https://media.fb.com/2017/01/11/facebook-journalism-project/, [https://perma.cc/V59V-
Robyn Caplan, Like it or Not, Facebook is Now a Media Company
  • Online Civil
  • Courage Initiative
ONLINE CIVIL COURAGE INITIATIVE, supra note 56. 245. See, e.g., Robyn Caplan, Like it or Not, Facebook is Now a Media Company, NEW YORK TIMES (May 17, 2016), https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2016/05/17/isfacebook-saving-journalism-or-ruining-it/like-it-or-not-facebook-is-now-a-media-company, [https://perma.cc/ZYY9-VDLK];
You're a Media Company Now. Start Acting Like One
  • Seth Fiegerman
  • Dear Facebook
Seth Fiegerman, Dear Facebook, You're a Media Company Now. Start Acting Like One, MASHABLE: BUSINESS (May 15, 2016), http://mashable.com/2016/05/15/facebook-media-company/#zOF0ooxw0aqo [https://perma.cc/25PB-Y366;
Should Facebook and Twitter be Regulated Under the First Amendment? WIRED
  • E G See
  • Lincoln Caplan
See, e.g., Lincoln Caplan, Should Facebook and Twitter be Regulated Under the First Amendment? WIRED (November 11, 2017), https://www.wired.com/story/should-facebookand-twitter-be-regulated-under-the-first-amendment/, [https://perma.cc/8HM4-P4HB];
concurring) ("every person must be his own watchman for truth, because our forefathers did not trust any government to separate the true from the false for us
  • J Jackson
See Thomas v. Collins, 323 U.S. 516, 545 (1945) (Jackson, J., concurring) ("every person must be his own watchman for truth, because our forefathers did not trust any government to separate the true from the false for us").
How do we help people build an informed community that exposes us to new ideas and builds common
  • Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg, Building Global Community (Feb. 17, 2017), https://www.facebook.com/notes/mark-zuckerberg/building-globalcommunity/10154544292806634/, [https://perma.cc/PMA9-S72D] (Among the questions Zuckerberg raises for Facebook is "How do we help people build an informed community that exposes us to new ideas and builds common understanding in a world where every person has a voice?").
Like it or Not, Facebook is Now a Media Company
  • E G See
  • Robyn Caplan
See, e.g., Robyn Caplan, Like it or Not, Facebook is Now a Media Company, NEW YORK TIMES (May 17, 2016), https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2016/05/17/isfacebook-saving-journalism-or-ruining-it/like-it-or-not-facebook-is-now-a-media-company, [https://perma.cc/ZYY9-VDLK];
See Federal Communications Commission
  • Id
Id. 250. See Federal Communications Commission, The Public and Broadcasting (July, 2008), https://www.fcc.gov/media/radio/public-and-broadcasting#DISTORT, [https://perma.cc/FZX9-QFWV].