Macro will present a bill on combating false news

PARlS How can societies combat bringing in false information, often fabricated, flooding through the internet and through social media, polluting political debates almost everywhere?

This question has plagued advocates of democracy, at least since the U.S. Presidential elections in 2016. And at a press conference outside the Presidential Palace this month, France's President Emmanuel Macron offered his answer.

The goal of Macron, apparently, is to frenzie “by law the false news. He is promising that, by the end of the year, he will present a bill to punish those who spread dissonance during election periods.

But France already has a depressive law that prohibits publication and transmission of disinformation with bad intentions. According to Article 27 of the famous 1881 Press Law, the spread of false information “by any means” is punishable by a fine of 45,000 Euros, with today's currency.

However, the Press Law applies only to information that has “revised public peace”, which is very difficult to determine, no longer proven. Another law, part of the electoral code, envisions a one-year prison sentence and a fine of 15 thousand Euros, for anyone using false information “or other fraudulent maneuvers” to steal votes. But this measure applies mainly to cases of electoral fraud.

So Macron's challenge is to prepare legislation for the digital era. Although he did not say exactly that in his final speech, Macron is targeting the type of interventions of the Russians, who already played a role in the US presidential election of 2016 but also who threatened his presidential campaign last spring.

But Macron is looking beyond Russia. Its broader goal is to protect democratic institutions, against any regime that defends what he calls <x0-cyliberalism political”, such as governments led by President Erdogan in Turkey, Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Hungary, or the Law and Justice Party in Poland.

The first path that Macron is exploring involves transparency. Digital platforms will certainly be subject to the highest transparency standards for all “the sponsored subx1> content, not just to reveal the identity of those who advertise, but to limit the amount of money spent on their messages. Second, Macro will try to introduce summary procedures in which judges can order certain content to be hidden, or that the site will be eliminated by search engines, or even completely blocked.

France is not the first country to try to build anti-false news legislation. On the eve of federal elections in Germany last September, the German Parliament adopted a law known as “NetzDG”, which entered into force on 1 January 2018. The law requires social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to wipe out all the illegal content of users including hate language, besides disinformation, within 24 hours, or face a fine of 50 million Euros. The Italian government, ahead of general elections held in March, has also proposed a law against false news.

No wonder the legislation proposed by Macroni has provoked criticism, not only from Marine Le Pen and her National Front party, but also from the far left. Makron critics have sought help from legal experts, who argue that existing laws are sufficient to curb false news.

However, these experts have failed to grasp the extent to which new technologies, especially social media, allow for wrongdoing. Those who seek to spread dissonance and conspiracy theories have more opportunities than ever. The need for new measures, to ensure transparent and accurate online content, must be clear.

Again, the new court procedure that Macon predicts will have to be examined carefully. Should a judge have the ability to decide immediately what is true and what is false and then to impose fines? After all, the false “warning” can take many forms, and sometimes it spreads without any bad intention, to manipulate or distort election results.

A second complication is the multidebated issue of network neutrality. It is supposed that the law will have to control disinformation at the same time to ensure that internet providers (ISP) equalize all online content.

In addition, it remains to be seen how Macron will address social networks and online actors located abroad, and over which French authorities have no jurisdiction.

No reasonable person suspects that Macron wants to introduce censorship. But the law he proposes should include safeguard clauses. For now, it is promising that the law will be implemented only for pre-election periods a delicate moment this, in the public life of a democracy.

In any case, the legislation proposed by Macron will just be one of the tools in the fight against disinformation. The public's power to improve media education, and new ratings for social media platforms as editors with editorial responsibilities can also harm disinformation campaigns.

After all, the flood of false news is a global challenge that will require a global solution. In this regard, the European Commission's decision to assemble a group of experts to lead a public consultation on the problem should be welcomed. We hope that the process will result in a series of recommendations for the best way to move forward.

But until then, the controversial Macroni proposal to say the right 79% of French people support, according to polls they will at least push citizens to start thinking seriously about a problem that affects the very foundations of a Western democracy. As we have seen in many countries, a disinformed voter is the enemy of a democrat.

The world.. By authorization from Project Syndicate, 2018. The republic can only be made with permission from Project Syndicate Can Face News Be Outlawed?