დეზინფორმაციასთან ბრძოლა, როგორც გამოხატვის თავისუფლების დაცვის მექანიზმი

Abstract

Owing to the worldwide usage of cyberspace and active consumption of social networks disinformation has become one of the key challenges of the 21st century. Searching for effective ways to combat disinformation is no less of an issue since it has proved to be problematic to find a single resolution, which, on the one hand, would prevent the spread of false information in cyberspace and, on the other, guarantee uninterrupted enjoyment of the right to freedom of expression. The article argues that, supremely, it is necessary to establish a universal and unambiguous definition for “disinformation”, which distinguishes the latter from “misinformation”, “malinformation” and “propaganda”. The article further examines the scope of freedom of expression and claims that disinformation falls outside the extent and that the vicious nature of such content threatens fundamental human rights and democratic values of states. Noteworthy, the spread of false information may become a tool for intervention by one state into another or a means for the government to fuel conflict among its citizens. Moreover, the article elaborates that not only the phenomenon of disinformation, as such, is menacing, but also labeling any unacceptable content as disinformation by non-democratic states and the imposition of disproportionate sanctions as a result. Based on this, the article states that it is necessary to find the middle ground that prevents the spread of disinformation not by the direct control and supervision of the ruling power of the state, but by the proactive involvement of social media platforms - by taking measures that will bring mistrustful information to users with relevant messages specifying that the content may not be trustworthy and automatically delete the news that are false and deceptive.