MEDIA LAW

En relación con las noticias publicadas por los medios de comunicación, se debe considerar, para la existencia de la difusión de noticias que puede generar sentimientos y juicios de desprecio o disgusto frente a un sujeto del cual se dieron a
conocer actos o circunstancias de su vida reprobables, hay que considerar si el derecho a la información se puede extender a estas formas de comunicación cuando se refiere a hechos ocurridos en un tiempo bastante remoto. En este asunto vienen de
hecho a chocarse dos derechos fundamentales: el derecho a informar sobre cualquier hecho relevante para la información y la formación de la opinión pública, por un lado, y el derecho de toda persona a no ver difundidas a largo plazo noticias de
hechos poco encomiables de su vida.

Nowadays social networks, for instance Facebook and Twitter, have made the users of the network not only recipients of information, but also producers of news. This assumption is fundamental to be able to talk about the phenomenon of the fake news and, more importantly, to be able to understand it. Indeed, fake news are part of the huge set of information that everyday appear in the network. They are intentional false news. However, they circulate just like those contents that instead satisfy an informative interest, polluting the public discourse.

Therefore, that fake news are not opinions, but intentional lies. Although freedom of expression represents a very broad protection, which includes as well the debate between the different ideas and opinions, such opinions must be kept separated from facts, within which fake news moves. Indeed, to believe that there are facts does not mean to believe that all that is proposed as fact is true (for instance, it is not a fact that “the Holocaust never happened”, yet this assumption invaded the web). Facts as the one reported in the example are false and, more importantly their falsity can be proved.

By clearly separating fake news from opinions, we can define fake news as articles with intentional and verifiably false news, which can mislead readers.