- Aug 6, 2012
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- 24,891
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If its going to happen in France, it can and will happen anywhere. Congrats to those who are hurt by speech, now you can go twiddle your thumb and bang your head, noone will hear you on the internet.
Emmanuel Macron promises ban on fake news during elections
Emmanuel Macron has vowed to introduce a law to ban fake news on the internet during French election campaigns.
The French president, who beat the far-right Marine Le Pen to win 2017’s election, said he wanted new legislation for social media platforms during election periods “in order to protect democracy”.
In his new year’s speech to journalists at the Élysée palace, Macron said he would shortly present the new law in order to fight the spread of fake news, which he said threatened liberal democracies.
New legislation for websites would include more transparency about sponsored content. Under the new law, websites would have to say who is financing them and the amount of money for sponsored content would be capped.
For fake news published during election seasons, an emergency legal action could allow authorities to remove that content or even block the website, Macron said. “If we want to protect liberal democracies, we must be strong and have clear rules,” he added.
He said France’s media watchdog, the CSA, would be empowered to fight against “any attempt at destabilisation” by TV stations controlled or influenced by foreign states.
Macron said he wanted to act against what he called “propaganda articulated by thousands of social media accounts”.
During the election campaign in spring 2017, Macron was the subject of various fake news stories about alleged offshore accounts. He filed a legal complaint after Le Pen, the Front National leader, referred to stories about him placing funds in an offshore account in the Bahamas.
At the time, Macron’s political movement, En Marche, called Le Pen’s statements a “textbook case” of fake news. The rumours about a Macron offshore account were suspected to have begun on a forum popular with supporters of the “alt-right” in the US. The rumours circulated hours before the TV debate between Macron and Le Pen. Documents were also posted online, which Macron’s camp said were an “outrageous falsification”.
Emmanuel Macron promises ban on fake news during elections
Emmanuel Macron has vowed to introduce a law to ban fake news on the internet during French election campaigns.
The French president, who beat the far-right Marine Le Pen to win 2017’s election, said he wanted new legislation for social media platforms during election periods “in order to protect democracy”.
In his new year’s speech to journalists at the Élysée palace, Macron said he would shortly present the new law in order to fight the spread of fake news, which he said threatened liberal democracies.
New legislation for websites would include more transparency about sponsored content. Under the new law, websites would have to say who is financing them and the amount of money for sponsored content would be capped.
For fake news published during election seasons, an emergency legal action could allow authorities to remove that content or even block the website, Macron said. “If we want to protect liberal democracies, we must be strong and have clear rules,” he added.
He said France’s media watchdog, the CSA, would be empowered to fight against “any attempt at destabilisation” by TV stations controlled or influenced by foreign states.
Macron said he wanted to act against what he called “propaganda articulated by thousands of social media accounts”.
During the election campaign in spring 2017, Macron was the subject of various fake news stories about alleged offshore accounts. He filed a legal complaint after Le Pen, the Front National leader, referred to stories about him placing funds in an offshore account in the Bahamas.
At the time, Macron’s political movement, En Marche, called Le Pen’s statements a “textbook case” of fake news. The rumours about a Macron offshore account were suspected to have begun on a forum popular with supporters of the “alt-right” in the US. The rumours circulated hours before the TV debate between Macron and Le Pen. Documents were also posted online, which Macron’s camp said were an “outrageous falsification”.
