Bechmann, Anja. “Tackling Disinformation and Infodemics Demands Media Policy Changes.” Digital Journalism, 2020, vol. 8, no. 6, 2020, pp. 855-863.
Summary and Review
To combat growing concerns about misinformation in 2019, the European Union Commission (EUC) established an advisory committee of 39 experts and stakeholders from non-governmental organizations, newspapers, online platforms, news agencies, and academia (856). The EUC’s report, which consisted of the European Action Plan and Code of Practice, identified the following causes of disinformation’s prevalence:
a few powerful platforms, such as Google and Facebook, “control the major share of advertising revenues globally and thus shrink the advertisement market share for the content providers,” such as newspapers, magazines, educational institutions, etc.
content providers are pressured to acquire one another to increase their advertising profits
subscription services, such as newspapers, provide higher quality and more credentialed reporting than free platforms, which deepens a divide between the wealthy well-informed and the disadvantaged less-informed
platforms are not regulated by the same laws or ethical codes as traditional content providers, so their content is easily swayed by and can sway public opinion and emotion (Bechmann 859).
The EUC suggested five ways to prevent and combat disinformation: enhance digital transparency, teach information literacy, create tools to encourage positive engagement between journalists and users, secure the means for diversifying and sustaining existing information providers, conduct more research (Bechmann 857-8). Bechmann's article, however, doesn't provide details as to whether, how, and when the EUC’s Action Plan and Code of Practice will be implemented.
Unfortunately, the EU European Action Plan and EU Code of Practice are no longer available from the article's links or from internet searches, suggesting they aren't likely to be implemented, which makes it difficult for educators to use this article. However, Bechmann gives a helpful overview of Europe's recent attempts to combat disinformation that educators can use as a jumping off point for developing lesson plans, so the article itself wouldn't need to be assigned reading for students.
Lesson Plan: Combating Mis/Disinformation Discussion
As a lecture or assigned reading, give students a brief summary of the main points from Bechmann's article. Then, facilitate a discussion using the questions below.
The EU European Action Plan is no longer available online. What might that mean for its implementation?
Should the U.S. create its own Action Plan? Why or why not? If so, what should it include?
Should the U.S. create its own Code of Practice? Why or why not? If so, what should it include?
If the U.S. created a committee like the EUC, what professions, interest groups, or individuals should be included? Why?
How might the spread of mis/disinformation threaten a democracy's existence? Give an example (real or hypothetical).
How might mis/disinformation policies that are too strict threaten free speech? Why does that matter?
Is it more important to guard free speech or regulate mis/disinformation online? Why?
Is it more important to guard free speech or prevent potential upset by certain individuals or groups in society? Why?
Evaluation of Discussion Participation
If written summaries are assigned as part of discussion preparation, use the Synchronous Discussion Rubric or Asynchronous Discussion Rubric to evaluate students' contributions.
Use the Summary Rubric to evaluate summaries assigned separately from discussions.
Use the Critical Thinking, Information Literacy, and Media Literacy Rubrics if appropriate.