Between 2011 and 2022, 78 countries passed laws designed to limit the spread of false or misleading information on social media. Some of these laws focus on improving platform transparency and accountability in digital advertising or increasing media and digital literacy. However, many focus on the content itself, criminalizing the creation and distribution of “fake news.” As a result, many misinformation, disinformation, and mal-information (MDM) laws chill press freedom, rather than enhance it. Although it is important to recognize that not all legal and regulatory responses to MDM have negative consequences for press freedom, the trajectory of recently passed MDM laws shows that many responses trend toward repression.
