Peculiarities of the  Modern Regulation of Fake News: Russian and Foreign Experience

For citation: Samorodova E.V. Osobennosti sovremennogo regulirovanija fejkovyh novostej: rossijskij i zarubezhnyj opy [Peculiarities of the Modern Regulation of Fake News: Russian and Foreign Experience]. Mediaskop 3. Available at: http://www.mediascope.ru/2641
DOI: 10.30547/mediascope.3.2020.4

@ Elina V. Samorodova

Researcher at the Faculty of Journalism, Lomonosov Moscow State University (Moscow, Russia), elina_samorodova@mail.ru

Abstract

In recent years, fake news has become a significant and widely discussed issue. Today, this phenomenon is given a new meaning, due to the fact that misinformation has become a frequently used tool for influencing on political processes and public opinion. The issue of fake news is recognized in many countries, but the mechanisms for countering misinformation differ significantly due to features of national legislation and forms of government. This paper attempts to determine the characteristics of fake news regulation in Russian and foreign practice. For this study, it was of interest to investigate international documents, legal acts, and the experience of self-regulatory organizations in more than fifty countries. The obtained data allowed us to determine the main trends and development ways of fake news regulation.

Keywords: fake news, misinformation, media regulation, state regulation of media, legislation.

Notes

Bahrain Penal code, 1976, art. 168. Available at: http://bahrainrights.org/BCHR/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Bahrain-Penal-Code.doc

Chto takoe fejkovye novosti i kak za nih budut nakazyvat'?» [What Is Fake News and How One can Be Punished for them?]. Available at: http://duma.gov.ru/news/46035/

Democracy at risk due to fake news and data misuse, MPs conclude. Available at:   https://web.archive.org/web/20181205094120/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jul/27/fake-news-inquiry-data-misuse-deomcracy-at-risk-mps-conclude

Electoral integrity: 2019 federal election. Available at: https://www.aec.gov.au/elections/electoral-advertising/electoral-integrity.htm

Federal'nyj zakon ot 18.03.2019 № 27-FZ «O vnesenii izmenenij v Kodeks Rossijskoj Federacii ob administrativnyh pravonarushenijah» [Federal Law form 18.03.2019. №27-FZ on ‘Amending to the Administrative Violations Code of Russian Federation’]. Available at: http://publication.pravo.gov.ru/Document/View/0001201903180021?

Federal'nyj zakon ot 18.03.2019 № 31-FZ «O vnesenii izmenenij v stat'ju 15-3 Federal'nogo zakona «Ob informacii, informacionnyh tehnologijah i o zashhite informacii» [Federal Law from 18.03.2019 №31-FZ on ‘Amending to the Article 15-3 of the Federal Law on ‘Information, information technologies and information security’’]. Available at: http://publication.pravo.gov.ru/Document/View/0001201903180031?

Fejk-n'jus: mnenie rossijan o novom zakone [Fake News: Opinion of Russian Citizens about the New Law]. Available at: https://wciom.ru/index.php?id=236&uid=9603

Fighting Fake News. Workshop Report. Available at: https://law.yale.edu/sites/default/files/area/center/isp/documents/fighting_fake_news_-_workshop_report.pdf

Forget “fake news” – we need a smarter approach to countermedia. Available at: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/news/nordic-welfare-news/forget-fake-news-we-need-a-smarter-approach-to-countermedia

Ministry of Public Security in China. Available at: http://www.mps.gov.cn/n2254314/n2254409/n4904353/c6263180/content.html

Netzdurchsetzunggesetz, NetzDG. Available at: https://germanlawarchive.iuscomp.org/?p=1245

Obzor № 2 po otdel'nym voprosam sudebnoj praktiki, svjazannym s primeneniem zakonodatel'stva i mer po protivodejstviju rasprostraneniju na territorii Rossijskoj Federacii novoj koronavirusnoj infekcii (COVID-19) [Review of the Supreme Court on Certain Issues of Judicial Practice Related to the Application of Legislation and Measures to Counteract the Spread of a New Coronavirus Infection in the Russian Federation (COVID-19)]. Available at: http://supcourt.ru/press_center/news/28883/

Perechen' informacionnyh resursov, reguljarno rasprostranjajushhih nedostovernuju informaciju [List of Information Resources That Regularly Distribute Fake Information]. Available at: https://rkn.gov.ru/mass-communications/p1104/

Post-truth' named 2016 word of the year by Oxford Dictionaries. Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/11/16/post-truth-named-2016-word-of-the-year-by-oxford-dictionaries/

SPCh prosit Sovet Federacii otklonit' zakonoproekty o nakazanijah za fejkovye novosti i neuvazhenie k vlasti [The Human Rights Council Asks the Federation Council to Reject Draft Laws on Punishing for Fake News and Disrespect for the Authorities].  Available at: http://president-sovet.ru/presscenter/news/read/5324/

Stop Fake News. Available at: https://www.stopfakenews.be

«Ugolovnyj kodeks Rossijskoj Federacii» ot 13.06.1996 N 63-FZ (red. ot 07.04.2020) (s izm. i dop., vstup. v silu s 12.04.2020) [‘Criminal Code of Russian Federation’ from 13.06.1996 №63-FZ (ed. from 07.04.2020) (with amendments and annexes, comes to force from 12.04.2020)]. Available at:  http://www.consultant.ru/document/cons_doc_LAW_10699/

«Zakonoproekty ne nosjat repressivnyj harakter. My ne sobiraemsja nikogo nakazyvat'» [The Draft Laws Are Not Repressive. We Are Not Going to Punish Anyone]. Available at: https://www.znak.com/2019-02-15/senator_andrey_klishas_o_svoih_iniciativah_po_regulirovaniyu_runeta_intervyu

References

Crouch C. (2010) Postdemokratija [Post-democracy]. Moscow: Higher School of Economics Publ.

Dentith M.R. X. (2017) The Problem of Fake News. Public Reason 8 (1‒2): 65‒79.

Gelfert A. (2018) Fake News: A Definition. Informal Logic 38 (1): 84‒117.

Gureeva A.N. (2016) Teoreticheskoe ponimanie mediatizacii v usloviyah tsifrovoj sredy [Theoretical Understanding of Mediatization in the Digital Environment]. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Serija 10: Zhurnalistika6: 192–208

Habermas J. (1991) The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere. Cambridge Massachusetts: The MIT Press.

Habgood-Coote J. (2018) Stop Talking about Fake News! Inquiry. 62 (9‒10): 1033‒1065. DOI: 10.1080/0020174X.2018.1508363

Issers O.S. (2014)Mediafejki: mezhdu pravdoj i mistifikatsiej [Media Fakes: Between Truth and Hoax]. Kommunikativniye issledovaniya 2: 112‒123.

Klein D., Wueller D. (2017) Fake News: A Legal Perspective. Journal of Internet Law. Available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2958790#references-widget

Lee T., Hosam C. (2020) Fake News Is Real: The Significance and Sources of Disbelief in Mainstream Media in Trump’s America. Sociological Forum. DOI: 10.1111/socf.12603

Lippmann W. (2004) Obshchestvennoye mneniye [Public Opinion]. Moscow: Inst. of the Public Opinion Foundation Publ.

McIntyre L. (2018) Post-Truth. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Montgomery-McGovern J.B. (1898) An Important Phase of Gutter Journalism: Faking. Arena 19 (99): 240‒253.

Plothow R. (2017) Defining Fake News ... Again. Post-Register: A5.

Rini R. (2017) Fake News and Partisan Epistemology. Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 27 (2): 43‒64. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/ken.2017.0025

Sukhodolov A.P. (2017) Fenomen «fejkovyh novostej» v sovremennom mediaprostranstve [The Phenomenon of "Fake News" in the Modern Media Space]. In: Evroaziatskoe sotrudnichestvo: gumanitarnye aspekty: materialy mezhdunarodnoj nauchno-prakticheskoj konferencii [Eurasian Cooperation: Humanitarian Aspects: materials of the international scientific and practical conference]. Irkutsk: Baikal Univ. Publ., pp. 87‒106.

Vartanova E.L. (2019) Mediapolitika: aktual'nyj akademicheskij diskurs [Media Policy: Current Academic Discourse]. MediaAlmanah 1: 8–17.