Should The American Government Regulate Internet Media?

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Fake News
The worldwide spread and democratization of information has been largely attributed to the advancements in technology. A number of issues prevent the internet from being as effective and robust as it should be. One of these issues is fake news. Although the instantaneous access to information has some obvious benefits such as the free flow of information that gives room for the sharing of ideas, failure to regulate the internet media has resulted in the spread of information with the aim of making money (Burkhardt 8). There has been a rise in reports of misinformation that is being spread across the internet. In part, the rise in the number of fake news has been contributed by the increase in the number of individuals who rely on social media and other websites for information (Gross). The need for news providers to attract and retain more followers online leads them to share information that is aimed at triggering public reaction despite it being fake. Individual’s exposure to large-scale disinformation such as absolutely false and misleading information is a significant concern for most nations, including the United States. The issue of disinformation lies in its ability to spread much faster than the actual information, and on the impact, it has since individuals are easily capable of posting and sharing any kind of news online (European Commission). In the United States, the most recent incidences of fake news were in the 2016 elections, which saw politicians buying advertisements on social media as a means of convincing voters to vote for them.
Despite the issue of false information in the United States, the country lacks a proper law that seeks to discourage the spread of false information online. A bipartisan group of lawmakers recommended a bill to restrict Russia from interfering with U.S elections using the advertisements on social media. This would be achieved by forcing the social media companies like Facebook to disclose the individuals or groups who purchase online political advertisements. If the bill manages to become law, the social media firms would need to attach a clear and conspicuous message revealing the buyer of the advertisements. However, the federal law does not clearly address the issue of whether disclaimers should be included in the advertisements. This makes it difficult for social media companies to implement the bill. Besides that, the proposed bill only addresses the buying of advertisements by politicians and does not address the entire issue of fake news.
The European Union has put much effort into regulating online misinformation. Recently, Germany introduced a law that requires social media platforms like Facebook to remove illegal content, including hate speech from their sites (Funke). The European Commission also announced two initiatives which would address the issue of fake news. The initiatives involve public consultation and the creation of a high-level group of experts who would develop the means of how to tackle the issue. Based on the replies from the public, the high-level group of experts designed a multi-dimensional approach that seeks to tackle the issue of fake news based on five pillars. They include safegua...