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like Facebook and Twitter can face fi nes of up to 50 million euros
if they fail to take down false content or hate speech on their sites
within twenty-four hours of being notifi ed about it. Other Europe-
an countries, including Sweden, Ireland, and the Czech Republic,
are also considering legislation to combat fake news.
The issue of foreign infl uence on elections, not just through fake
websites and stories but also through online political advertise-
ments, has also gained the attention of US lawmakers. A bill being
considered by Congress would require online political ads to follow
rules similar to those for political ads in newspapers and on televi-
sion. If passed, companies like Google and Facebook would be
required to maintain copies of political ads before they disappear
from the Internet and make them publicly available to review and
compare against other political ads. The companies would also be
required to disclose information on the types of users targeted by
the ads, the ad buyers, and the rates charged for the ads.
Critics of laws like these warn that increased government regu-
lation can restrict free speech. Laws that require social media com-
panies to decide which content to delete may cross the line into
censorship and threaten freedom of expression. Similarly, legisla-
tion aimed at restricting fake news may also give the government
too much control over what
information remains online “It should be the responsibility of
for citizens to consume. Yin the platforms to implement a design
Yin Lu, a researcher at the solution that would indicate visually
Oxford Internet Institute, be- the quality of news sources that were
lieves that the responsibility shared. This would allow users them-
selves to determine whether or not
for dealing with fake news they should trust them.” 64
should lie with social media
platforms and users rather — Yin Yin Lu, a researcher at the Oxford Internet Institute
than government. “It should
be the responsibility of the platforms to implement a design solu-
tion that would indicate visually the quality of news sources that
were shared. This would allow users themselves to determine
whether or not they should trust them,” she says.
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