The Press’s Role in The Post-truth Era and The World of Mobile Domination

However weird it may seem, fake news, hoaxes, propaganda and partisan information are not a new phenomenon. Nowadays though it has become even harder to filter fake news due to the freedom of speech and social media allowing everyone to contribute to news posting and promoting. The issue becomes even more complicated as people choose to inform themselves through social media pages reflecting only opinions close to theirs, thus being more prone to fake news. Because of the role mobiles, and in extend social media, have in this day and age, it could be difficult for measures to be taken without people backlashing.

Just like many other countries, Italy too has to deal with the issues mentioned. In 2016 we had to deal with problems such as the political influence on the public broadcaster and the heavy concentration of media ownership. Although there were a lot of complications, there was also some progress which was highlighted by the approval of Italy’s first Freedom of Information law on May 2016. Italy already has legal documents regarding the high concentration of media stating that no broadcaster is allowed to control more than 20% of television and radio stations or more than 20% of the total revenue from the entire media industry. However, reality is different; about 90% of total revenues in the television sector are held by only three operators. Despite the many issues caused by fake news in Italy, censorship of media content is not a concern since the authorities do not really engage in political censorship of online speech. Nonetheless, since early 2018, the Italian citizens have been able to report fake news to the police. Though this is a recent decision, defamation was already considered criminal offense, punishable either with a fine or up to 3 years of imprisonment. In addition, a 2001 regulation still in effect “fights” the fake news issue by stating that in order to provide a news service, whether that is in the traditional media or online, one has to be a “chartered” journalist within the Communication Worker’s Registry (ROC) while also being a member in the National Journalists’ Association. Lastly, there have also been more and more debates regarding the “fake news” issue in Italy and possible solutions for the regulation of the disinformation spread have been proposed and discussed.

Although the Italian government has made decisions regarding the “fake news” and misinformation issues, there is still room for improvement. Proposals in order to tackle and regulate issues, such as the proper implementation of the Freedom of Information law, have already been made. We have already seen some shifts in the country’s heavy concentration of media ownership, a situation that we could improve by actually putting the already existing regulation in effect. Furthermore, laws relating to the close relationship between the media and politics should also be made. If we manage to separate media from politics, it is possible that news will also be less manipulated. As it has already been stated, there have been multiple debates during which several legislative proposals about online news sharing were discussed. However these debates caused negative reactions because of their potential impact on internet freedom. A way to tackle the issue without causing negative reactions would be the verification of specific online news providers, meaning that people will still be able to comment their opinion, but only verified sources will be providing information. That way fake news will be limited without affecting people’s freedom of speech.