Detect Fake News

A 2019 NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found that 55 percent of Americans believed social media does more to spread lies and falsehoods versus only 31 percent who said it does more to spread news and information.

Social media companies want to remain immune from legal consequences for user-generated content. They do not want to be treated like a newspaper. Section 230 of The 1996 Communications Decency Act shields third-party platforms (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) from liability for user-generated content. Platforms, intent to keep the law unchanged, now face pressure from both political parties that want to change Section 230.

Wired reported that bot accounts can account for over-half of the conversation around specific political topics on Twitter, raising questions about the notion that Twitter dialogue reflects public opinion. 

In 2019, The United Kingdom’s cabinet secretaries announced that they would provide guidance for  teaching media literacy to their students. California passed a law which requires media literacy resources to be available to students. Washington state is considering a media literacy bill, and Massachusetts successfully passed a bill so students can better “access, analyze and evaluate all types of media,” according to Media Literacy Now.

The public health risks associated with virus misinformation were so high that Google, Twitter and Facebook all announced that they would remove dangerous content about COVID-19, a move that showed their willingness to moderate at least some political content.

Zuckerberg has defended Facebook’s commitment to free expression, even as competitors take steps to address hate and disinformation on their platforms.