The relative success of fact checking services in combatting fake news – a quick patch for a systemic problem?
Posted: 26 July, 2023 Filed under: Mihail Stojanoski | Tags: accessible information, Deutsche Welle, education system, election periods, fact-checking, Fake News, independent fact-checkers, intermediary regulation, lack of rationality, logical assumption, media literacy, monetary gain, research, social media, tech companies, time-limit Leave a comment
Author: Mihail Stojanoski
Human rights lawyer, Macedonia
There is little need to introduce the buzzword “fake news” and the risks associated with it. The phenomenon is nothing new but its re-emergence during the second half of the past decade is attributed in large part to the massive proliferation of news on social media and the overall lower barriers for entry into the field of news distribution.[1]
Responses were numerous and quick to appear – from the introduction of an interim take-down measure available during election periods in France to outsourcing the problem by introducing intermediary responsibility of the platforms which transmit the content in question in Germany. Setting aside the latter, which rapidly gained global popularity ,[2] an initial antidote to fake news, which was introduced swiftly and to public acclaim in many countries, was fact-checking.
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