Our democracy cannot endure if “Fake News” is allowed to proliferate. To combat this, there must be a law that any broadcaster (the company and the individual) who knowingly spreads false statements could be subject to a significant fine, prison, or both. The key word in this law is “knowingly,” which would have to be proved in court. That is a high bar, but could be done.
Who is a broadcaster? That would be anyone on the radio, on television, newspaper reporters, or even on the internet (think people sending out thousands of bots to influence voters) where their statements are received by thousands of people who could be influenced by what was said. Broadcasters could even be politicians, if what they say can be proven to be false and that they knew it to be false when they said it, in the eyes of a reasonable person. The lie would have to be significant to justify taking action or there must be a pattern of multiple lies which have the intent of distorting reality.
This law would impact the left and right. Just having the law could make broadcasters and politicians think twice about what they say.
Mark Rothacher, Salt Lake City
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