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- Title
TAMING ONLINE PUBLIC HEALTH MISINFORMATION.
- Authors
RUBINSTEIN, IRA; KENNETH, TOMER
- Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic was shaped by a corollary infodemic: an abundance of public health misinformation ("PHM"), primarily online. Online PHM has pervasive effects, creating health hazards for individuals and hindering society's attempts to confront diseases and health risks. Troublingly, online PHM is a difficult problem to solve. It involves regulation of online speech, content moderation, First Amendment issues, and public health law. And like other regulations of misinformation, it raises intricate epistemic and normative questions. This Article discusses the problems associated with online PHM, points to shortcomings in existing responses, and advances two primary solutions. The Article contributes to existing scholarship by developing a comprehensive plan for confronting online PHM, thereby also casting new light on online speech regulation. The Article begins by developing the concept of PHM and discussing the major harms it poses, using COVID-19 as a main example. Next, it surveys how major platforms confronted online PHM during the COVID-19 pandemic and explains the shortcomings of relying on platforms to confront PHM. The Article then critiques existing regulatory measures that governments use to confront online PHM. Positively, the Article promotes two promising paths for confronting online PHM. First, soft-regulation measures--specifically voluntary self-regulation and voluntary enforcement. Such approaches were successfully implemented around the world to confront online speech harms, but so far mostly overlooked in the U.S. Second, it explores a new approach to managing online speech: regulating algorithmic recommendation (and amplification). Drawing on a technical primer, recent bills, and caselaw, the Article argues-contrary to popular views--that regulation of algorithmic recommendation can survive First Amendment scrutiny.
- Subjects
PUBLIC health; MISINFORMATION; ELECTRONIC information resources; PANDEMICS; CORONAVIRUS diseases; UNITED States. Constitution. 1st Amendment
- Publication
Harvard Journal on Legislation, 2023, Vol 60, Issue 2, p219
- ISSN
0017-808X
- Publication type
Article