Digital Business Lawyer Quotes Partner Gonzalo Mon on Facebook “Fake News”
Partner Gonzalo Mon was quoted in the Digital Business Lawyer article “Facebook steps up attempts to combat ‘fake news’ in wake of US election controversy.” Facebook and Google have both announced measures aimed at stopping the spread of fake news on the internet, in the wake of the controversy around the US Presidential election, by restricting advertising revenues. In August, Facebook announced the creation of a new algorithm to reduce misleading headlines that appear in a user’s News Feed, so-called ‘click-bait.’ Mr. Mon notes that “Congress recognised that, and responded with Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. I think Section 230 strikes the right balance, even if the results aren’t always perfect. If platforms could be held liable for what other companies or people post, I fear that would have far-reaching and chilling effects. The platforms simply don’t have the bandwidth to review everything that is created or posted by someone else. Of course, if the platforms played some role in the creation or development of the fake content, they could be held responsible.”