Fake news must fall

MANY would agree the consequences of disinformation, misinformation and hate speech can be disastrous for communities and nations.

Such devices are capable of provoking widespread public alarm, street violence and civilisational wars.

They can lead to misguided choices made at the polls or give a foreign power a strategic advantage.

Hence it would be folly to do nothing to curb this viral menace, given the speed at which blatant lies and worked-up passions can travel.

Just what steps should be taken to safeguard societies, however, is a matter of considerable debate.

A heavy-handed approach might curb the freedom of expression. At the other end of the scale, token measures will have no deterrent effect.

In an ideal world, the giants of the digital world would practise a code of conduct to expunge extreme content within hours of a legitimate complaint.

But being imperfect, the world is seeing “fake news” proliferating like a cancer instead.

Germany and Britain are among the nations looking at legal measures to tackle this problem.

Singapore too is preparing to introduce laws next year to rein in excesses.

When opinions are construed as false facts, legislation could have the unintended effect of suppressing viewpoints. Thus, the law must be clear about its target. The aim could be to get the likes of Facebook, Google and Twitter to separate the wheat from the chaff. If the test of falsehood in cyberspace is content that breaks existing laws, private companies will have to judge the truth and the legality of posts which Facebook insists is unreasonable.

All involved must act speedily to counter the corrosive effects of false news.