OpinionBlunt laws can’t eradicate fake news at its root, but education and other tools can

Legislation is open to abuse and can stifle innovation. More importantly, it cannot effectively fight the complex issue of misinformation, given the scale of the internet

Collaborative efforts to set up fact-checking programmes and voluntary codes, invest in digital literacy training, and develop tech tools to flag fake news are a better solution

3-MIN READ3-MIN

A smart phone screen displays a new policy on Covid-19 misinformation with a Facebook website in the background. Facebook is one of the digital platforms that have adopted the Australian Code of Practice on Disinformation and Misinformation. Such voluntary codes are an essential tool in fighting fake news. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:15am, 25 Jun 2021Updated: 9:15am, 25 Jun 2021

Misinformation is a complex social issue that predates the advent of the internet and social media. However, with the rising prevalence of sharing information online, misinformation poses a new set of challenges for all involved.

Amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the abundance of pandemic-related information online can make determining the most accurate and credible information sources even more challenging.

While there are many approaches to addressing misinformation, including collaborating with industry, news organisations, and civil society to put in place practical initiatives to curb misinformation online, many governments in the region have instead turned to legislation as a solution. Several Southeast Asia nations, including Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam, have passed laws against fake news.

These laws often grant broad power to the government and lack transparency in the process of how decisions are made by governments when implementing the law. The laws are open to misuse or abuse – used to silence dissent and opposition – and they can stifle innovation.

Experts have argued that blunt legislation is not the most effective solution to the complex issue of misinformation, given the scale of the internet and the difficulty and subjectivity of discerning whether information is true or false. Instead, a long-term multistakeholder approach is needed.

A man in Hanoi, Vietnam, checks his mobile phone on June 8. A tough cybersecurity law has been in place in Vietnam since 2019 and, last year, the government introduced fines for the dissemination of “fake news” on social media, amid the rapid spread of comment online about the coronavirus in the country. Photo: AFP

This includes a commitment to digital, media and information literacy, including critical thinking skills, which is vital to dealing with online misinformation in a sustainable manner.