Regulating disinformation on social media : a European perspective

Abstract

This paper will analyse current legislation in Malta and other European jurisdictions as well as the EU on disinformation in an online context. Furthermore, it evaluates the possibility of amendments and the introduction of new laws to stay up to date as perpetrators and intermediaries do everything in their power to avoid liability. The first chapter demonstrates how and why disinformation is becoming an ever-increasing problem. The second chapter will give examples of laws against disinformation from various European countries which violate the Right to Freedom of Expression. This chapter will also assess the articles on Freedom of Expression stemming from International law and the interpretation of such Articles by the ECtHR to understand the criteria required not to violate such right. Moreover, Chapter 3 will investigate both the legal and non-legal measures introduced at an EU level intended to control disinformation, data extraction from users and intermediary Liability. Furthermore, Chapter 4 investigates the measures taken by Malta and other European Jurisdictions to counter disinformation. Whilst some countries espoused the voluntary regulation approach, others enacted legal Articles intended to counter false news and other forms of disinformation.