Fake News – What’s the harm? : Four ideas for fact-checkers, policymakers & platforms on countering the consequences of false information & defending free speech

Former news reporter and founder of Africa’s first fact-checking organisation Peter Cunliffe-Jones argues that since concern about ‘information disorder’ soared in 2016, we have laboured under flawed assumptions about the nature and effects of ‘fake news’ and misinformation.Based on a four-year review of 250 case studies, Cunliffe-Jones sets out four ideas for fact-checkers, policymakers and platforms to curb harmful consequences and protect wider freedom of speech.First, information disorder is about more than misinformation.Second, misinformation in offline settings can cause as big a problem as misinformation online.Third, misinformation that affects policymakers can be as bad as misinformation that affects the public.Fourth, he proposes a model for fact-checkers, researchers and platforms to distinguish false claims that do and do not have substantive potential to cause substantive consequences.