ADAPTING MAINSTREAM MEDIA EXTANT LAW IN PREVENTING FAKE NEWS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Abstract

The question of how to tame the spread of fake news in the era of social media has been of a great concern in media industry, among journalists, policymakers and scholars across the globe. Freedom of expression in the mainstream media has some degree of limitations by laws and ethical codes of journalism while regulation of social media contents seems pretty difficult and unattainable. Therefore, this study seeks to exert a nexus between social media and the mainstream media with a view to adapting extant media law in preventing the spread of fake news on social media. The study examines the concept of social media, fake new, media laws as well as the impact of social media in the spread of fake news. Qualitative approach was adopted while interview was used to collect primary data. Purposive sampling method and snowballing technique were adopted to select six (6) participants, three (3) each from both traditional and online media. A thematic analysis of responses got from there interviewees provided the findings of the study. The paper finds out that there are legal tools capable of addressing aspects of the “fake news” problem, and can be used to address its spread in the social media through direct legislation or indirect incentives that encourage certain best practices. Considering fundamental human right to freedom of expression, the paper concludes that any attempt to restrict the freedom of expression must be in adherence with international human rights guidelines and must not restrict legitimate speech.