Fake news is as old as human speech, but with the advent of social media the ability to spread misleading or outright false information has exploded with it. Social media can be both good and bad. It is good that it makes it nearly impossible for anyone or any group to monopolize news narratives now that people can obtain information from a multitude of different sources, but it is bad that it has multiplied the misinformation available to the public.
Misinformation proliferation is so severe that an estimated 62% of online content is deemed false, 43.7% of internet information is unreliable or false, and 52% of Americans encounter fake news on a regular basis. Worst of all, fake news has a 70% more likely chance of being “retweeted” than factual news does. The bottom line of these statistics is that everyone living today has an 86% global exposure to misinformation. Eighty-six percent global exposure means that nearly all of us have watched, listen to, or read misleading or false information being passed off as news.
The issues with misinformation are that: it erodes public trust in media and institutions, divides us socially and polarizes us politically, can create a public health risk concerning topics such as vaccines, can crash financial markets, and it can inspire people to commit violence.
Fortunately, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) can address these very serious issues without having to pass a bill through Congress. With existing powers, the FCC and FTC can implement a regulatory framework that:
- Promotes accuracy without government deciding truth.
- Allows transparency and accountability, not censorship, to do the work.
- Encourages competition among fact-checkers.
- Prevents monopolization of a “truth authority.”
- Creates enforceable corporate behavior standards.
- Strengthens public trust without infringing on the First Amendment.
Having the FCC and FTC implement these changes is the most expedient method to immediately hold news outlets accountable to facts, but a new presidential administration could switch it back with the stroke of an executive order. To better inhibit the proliferation of fake news into the distant future, Congress should follow up the FCC and FTC changes with a bill that immortalizes these changes into federal law. Check out the regulatory framework and the draft bill to achieve these objectives.