The Week in Internet News: France Approves Fake News Law, Looks to Regulate Further Thumbnail
Technology 26 November 2018

The Week in Internet News: France Approves Fake News Law, Looks to Regulate Further

Grant Gross
By Grant GrossGuest AuthorTechnology Reporter

France tackles the Internet: The French government has been making news in recent days for examining ways to regulate the Internet. Its parliament has passed a controversial new law that would allow judges to order the immediate removal of online articles they deem to be fake news, Euronews.com reports. Critics warned the law, which allows for jail sentences for fake news creators, could lead to censorship.

Regulation or autocracy? French President Emmanuel Macron pushed the fake news law, and he also called for more government regulation of the Internet at a recent Internet Governance Forum in Paris. Macron called for international cooperation on Internet issues, as a way to tame disinformation, with CFR.org suggesting governments must adapt to fight modern problems. But TechDirt suggested Macron was acting like an autocrat in his call for more regulation.

Broadband plan MIA: Canada’s government, meanwhile, has “no plan” to bring broadband to rural and remote areas, a government auditor said. Canada’s rural broadband efforts so far have led to “a series of moving targets, lofty proclamations, piecemeal programs, and ultimately big letdowns,” Motherboard says.

Where the money is: Research firm IDC expects investments in Artificial Intelligence to triple in the next three years, Health Data Management reports. Driving the AI growth will be pharmaceutical research, expert shopping advisors and product recommendations, digital assistants for enterprise knowledge workers, and intelligent processing automation, IDC predicts.

Blockchain not dead yet: The Bitcoin speculation craze seems to have ended but investments in the related blockchain technology isn’t going anywhere, Forbes says. Along with AI, blockchain is a top technology investment target for 2019, the publication suggests.

Bots love fake news: Twitter bots target users of the social media service with lots of followers as a way to spread their fake news stories, ScienceNews says. Cracking down on these bots may help limit the spread of fake news, according to a new study.

Dangerous AIs: Some people have been warning about the dangers of AI for years now, and Forbes looks at possible ways the technology can be damaging. Autonomous weapons, social manipulation, and discrimination are among the potential dangers, the story says.

We won’t save the Internet by breaking it. We must work collaboratively to develop solutions.

Disclaimer: Viewpoints expressed in this post are those of the author and may or may not reflect official Internet Society positions.

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