FAKE NEWS legislation is coming

The British, French and German governments are all hot on the trail of FAKE NEWS now.

In Germany from 1st January social media can face fines upto 50 million euros. In France President Macron is proposing a law that will ban FAKE NEWS at election time:

www.newsweek.com...

Hate Speech Is Going to Cost Facebook and Twitter a Fortune in 2018

In the UK the Prime Minister has initiated an investigation out of which recommendation will come and appropriate legislation.

The EU is hot on your lying tongues:

euobserver.com...

The European Commission plans on tackling fake news as part of a broader effort to protect democracy. "Fake news is a direct threat to the very foundations of our democratic society," EU commissioner for digital economy, Mariya Gabriel said on Monday (13 November). Speaking at a conference on fake news in Brussels, Gabriel announced plans to set up an expert panel that will feed into possible legislation later on. "European citizens need to have the skills and tools at their disposal to manage the ocean of information available online, that is our challenge," she said.

I already have the intellectual tools because I have been educated and have educated myself how to analyze information before letting it hijack my perception and my behavior. I am not a zombie. Are you a zombie?

They're coming for you, Barbara!

www.netimperative.com...

Facebook said that it would ask its users to tell it which news sources they read and trust to help it decide which ones should be featured more prominently. In a post on his personal page on Friday evening, Facebook’s CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg said he wanted to make sure news consumed on the platform was from “high quality and trusted sources”. “There’s too much sensationalism, misinformation and polarization in the world today,” wrote Zuckerberg. “Social media enables people to spread information faster than ever before, and if we don’t specifically tackle these problems, then we end up amplifying them.” Meanwhile, Twitter said in a blog post that it would email nearly 678,000 users that may have inadvertently interacted with now-suspended accounts believed to have been linked to a Russian propaganda outfit called the Internet Research Agency (IRA).

Once they have got to the bottom of it you bet the Republicans and the Democrats will do the same. They will be hotter on it than the rest because they have suffered the most. Trump, Hillary and Obama have all been victims. They will not allow the next election to be conducted with all that chattering of lies going on in the background. It is over.

The announcements come amid intense scrutiny by US lawmakers over both Facebook and Twitter’s role in letting Russians and others spread misinformation during the 2016 presidential election. The goal, according to U.S. intelligence agencies, was to divide Americans on politically charged issues like race, religion, and gun control.

The lawyers will love having new toys to play with. Time is up on FAKE NEWS. Good, because I am sick of having to counteract it.

ATS, I have never done this to you. I take my posts seriously. Yes, I can be a bit hard and I get angry sometimes, but I would never deceive you knowingly or knowingly put lies up on your boards. Watch out because I want you to survive. Members, don't play RUSSIAN roulette with your own democracies and even your own tongues. Someone is coming to chop off your lying tongues if you are such naughty little children like that.

So governments are passing laws as to what constitutes news or not. As I've said before sounds like propaganda to me. Fake news has been around since at least I was a kid. It used be sold next to pretty much every checkout stand, still is. Dunno why it's such a big deal now it's on the internet. Whatever happened to common sense?

a reply to: Revolution9

In today's news, from Davos:

www.theguardian.com...

Prime minister to ask shareholders to pressure firms such as Twitter and Facebook

Theresa May will use a speech to business leaders in Davos on Thursday to urge shareholders to pressure social media giants such as Twitter and Facebook to do more to tackle terrorism. May flew to the Swiss ski resort for the World Economic Forum on Wednesday after prime minister’s questions in the House of Commons. She will call for more action from tech companies to identify and take down extremist content and say investors have a responsibility to pressure them to clean up their act.

www.siliconrepublic.com...

UK government to establish new unit to battle onslaught of fake news

A team will be established in the UK to combat the complex problem of fake news. A spokesperson for UK prime minister Theresa May has said that the government will be creating a dedicated national security unit to fight against disinformation and the dissemination of fake news.

news.sky.com...

The unit will be based in the Cabinet Office and will reportedly monitor social media to "identify and challenge disinformation". 10:31, UK, Monday 22 January 2018

www.heraldscotland.com...

THE UK Government is to create a new unit to counter disinformation and "fake news" by foreign powers such as Russia as ministers launched a fresh review of Britain's defence capabilities. The move came as the National Security Council, chaired by Theresa May, agreed the main findings of an across-Whitehall review of national security capabilities. The Prime Minister's spokesman said the new national security communications unit would build on existing capabilities and would be tasked with "combating disinformation by state actors and others".

That's good news to my ears. Lies will only ever destroy trust and cause confusion, illusion and allow sabotage. It is common communication corruption.

originally posted by: dug88
So governments are passing laws as to what constitutes news or not. As I've said before sounds like propaganda to me. Fake news has been around since at least I was a kid. It used be sold next to pretty much every checkout stand, still is. Dunno why it's such a big deal now it's on the internet. Whatever happened to common sense?

yup i dont get it unless it has something to do with everyone gets a trophy and these people are such helpless little lambs that they need to be told what news to ingest. these same people were complicit when the previous admmin made laws making it legal for the govt to dispense propaganda to its people and censor anything they dont like by giving it whatever label they want to stifle your free speech

So who decides what is fake news and what isn't? I think personal responsibility and personal research should be the deciding factor in what is or isn't fake news not the government.

It is about suppressing any and all knowledge about our deep state, which still run's the senate and house.

Take Michael Steele for instance.

It was last spring when Karl Rove called Michael Steele, the lieutenant governor of Maryland, to sell him on running for the Senate, and to close the deal, Rove paused to put President Bush on the phone. As Steele recalls it, the president's adviser said, "Here, the boss wants to talk to you." Steele froze, then demurred. "I went, 'No, no thank you.' I was so stunned that he was going to hand the phone to the president. I said, 'That's all right, we'll have that call later.' I couldn't believe it." Other top Republicans called. Senator Elizabeth Dole. Ken Mehlman, the party chairman. One day Steele's cellphone rang, and Vice President Dick Cheney was on the other end.

www.nytimes.com...

According to Michael Steele is took some serious nudging, but they got him. Now he works for the deep state, whether he realizes it or not.

Which he has used to criticize Trump supporters. Such as this.

www.huffingtonpost.com...

“I have a very simple admonition at this point,” Steele said on “Hardball” on MSNBC. “Just shut the hell up and don’t ever preach to me about anything ever again. I don’t want to hear it.”

That tells you a little bit about the deep state. Bush voted for Hillary, he is in the loop guaranteed.

originally posted by: dug88
So governments are passing laws as to what constitutes news or not. As I've said before sounds like propaganda to me. Fake news has been around since at least I was a kid. It used be sold next to pretty much every checkout stand, still is. Dunno why it's such a big deal now it's on the internet. Whatever happened to common sense?

I think I know where you are going with this, and it does seem to be going down that road.

originally posted by: 3NL1GHT3N3D1
So who decides what is fake news and what isn't? I think personal responsibility and personal research should be the deciding factor in what is or isn't fake news not the government.

I would say the one's that make the laws decide what is fake new's and what isn't. That may open up a can of worms the people might not like.

Yaaaaaaayyy!!! C E N S O R S H I P !!!! YAAAAAAAAY!

a reply to: 3daysgone

I agree, it's dangerous and would potentially be more harmful than simply leaving fake news alone in my opinion. Sounds like state sponsored media (propaganda) to me.

the ministry of truth hates competion .

The only way to know what's real is to put body-cams on all the politicians.

And I should say CEOs too...

originally posted by: 3NL1GHT3N3D1
a reply to: 3daysgone

I agree, it's dangerous and would potentially be more harmful than simply leaving fake news alone in my opinion. Sounds like state sponsored media (propaganda) to me.

But that still would leave the problem of fake news. It is a very divisive thing and I do believe something should be done about it, I just can't think of a solution that would not infringe upon the Constitution. What could be an amendment to the constitution that would make lying illegal? Which is what fake news is.

a reply to: 3daysgone
So you are saying that lying should be punished in some form? I don’t like lying just as much as the next person but suppressing ones right to free speech in any form is wrong. I think the solution would be to better educate ourselves and improved schooling.

a reply to: dug88

"New report released today proves President Trump colluded with Batboy to steal the election."

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

Whoever is in power decides of course!

Exactly how will they define fake news in it's entirety? Remember when the "fake news" sites popped at the end of 2016, ATS was included on one of those lists going around-later removed upon request. Surely all of it must be equal, or will only "Russian sponsored" fake news count but traditional MSM hype to click bait and tabloids lies staying? Is the end outcome then to implement state run news?

originally posted by: Allaroundyou
a reply to: 3daysgone
So you are saying that lying should be punished in some form? I don’t like lying just as much as the next person but suppressing ones right to free speech in any form is wrong. I think the solution would be to better educate ourselves and improved schooling.

Which right is greater? The right to know the truth or the right to lie? Educate ourselves about what? Educate ourselves to tell when people are lying? That can be pretty tricky thing to master, but I suppose it would be worth it.

There are No Laws or regulations for falsifying, distorting or exaggerating the news in the United States. This goes for Fox, CNN, NBC, me, you, my neighbor, BBC (you get my point) we all have the freedom to report the news as we see fit and in favor of our political views. Social Media has been a fear for the Press for many years now. Once they realized that the American public can legally do the exact same thing they have done for years and years they’re pushing hard for the stop of “fake news” Does anyone know exactly what is categorized as fake news? If such a law/regulation gets passed, it’ll only pertain to the public. The media will still be protected under their rights and will be able to report news as they see fit and in favor of their political views by spreading lies, exaggerating stories and spreading hate. When I think about the power the media has is freaking scary! They have the power to start a war, hell they almost divided our country! It’s the media’s job to manipulate elections and persuade the public on who to vote for. Does anyone believe the Russian bots story? Come on!!

This smells bad. This leaves the government the final arbiter of what is considered 'real' news. Anything getting to close to an uncomfortable truth about the government could be labeled 'fake' and the ones trying to whistleblow get slammed. While on the outside, it sounds good. In reality, it looks like nothing more than a way to limit speech and a step in the direction of state-sponsored and controlled news.

Is that truly what people want? Is our society as a whole today so incapable of doing research to see if the article they're reading is from a reputable source, or is it a one-off article from a known biased crap-stirring publication? Frankly, people should stop and feel absolutely offended that they're being treated like mindless drones who need a firm hand to guide them else they're lost. I also thought that a good many people wanted the government to back off and stop trying to legislate us into a nanny state?