IFLA Provides Comments to the European Commission Public Consultation on Fake News and Online Disinformation

European Commission Consultation Webpage

• Public Consultation on Fake News and Online Disinformation (via European Commission)

• Additional Info About Fake News (via European Commission)

Responses From the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA)

IFLA provides 23 responses in a six page document. 
Here’s the first question and IFLA response.
Q. In your opinion, which criteria should be used to define fake news for the purposes of scoping the problem?

• Pretence of providing factual information (i.e. not opinion, or necessary conspiracy theories)
• Malicious intent to mislead (i.e. not error)
• Knowing repetition/relaying of sources (government or other) as fact, rather than quotation/opinion
• Apparent similarity to ‘news’ (i.e. focused on short-term information. This would not necessarily include poor research practice – this is already subject to professional procedures elsewhere – but would include deliberate mis-reporting of research results). Importantly, though, it should take account of how people source information now – focusing on newspapers alone is not enough.
• Refusal or reluctance to correct errors, or not giving prominence to these.

Direct to Full Text Response Document
See Also: Report From IFLA: “Real Solutions to Fake News: How Libraries Help” (August 20, 2017)
From the August 2017 Report

Filed under: Associations and Organizations, Libraries, News