Research project

Investigator:
Yitzchak Besser

Abstract:
The COVID-19 pandemic has spawned a staggering amount of misinformation and disinformation on the Internet. This has had a real-world impact — particularly with regard to COVID-19 infection and death rates — and created a so-called “infodemic.” This article will investigate American and European efforts to combat this threat to society. It will discuss the legal protections and restrictions for this category of speech under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, Section 230 of the U.S. Communications Decency Act, Article 11 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Union’s Digital Services Act, and the newly strengthened Code of Practice on Disinformation published by the European Commission in 2022.

Additionally, the article will examine social media companies’ actions with respect to health-related misinformation and disinformation, and will investigate this issue from the perspective of law and economics. The article will also look at other examples of laws governing speech in a public health context, such as health warnings on harmful products (e.g. cigarettes), food nutrition information, and false advertising laws about snake-oil products.