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This article examines Russia's practice of the ban introduced by the so-called 'fake news laws' during the war against Ukraine. It blends doctrinal legal with discourse analysis to study how and why Russian courts have applied the laws, which epistemology of knowledge they have constructed while limiting fake news about the war and what implications this has for freedom of expression and public debate of the war within Russia. The dataset covers 446 Russian court decisions from 2022 to 2023. A historical approach is utilised to discuss the results in connection to the Soviet Communist ideology. The article argues that Russian courts have used the laws to make truth in Russia conditional and loyalty unconditional, actualising the Soviet principles of 'partyness', 'objectivity' and 'scientificalness'. It demonstrates how courts construct a mythologised reality about the 'imaginary' 'military operation' to help the government monopolise the public debate and misrepresent the war against Ukraine within Russia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant element of Central and Eastern Europe's democracies backsliding process turns out to be changes in the media law. These changes are now leading to a decline in media freedom. The article attempts to understand this phenomenon by analyzing the process of legal and policy changes in Poland. In the course of the analysis, the reader's attention is drawn to three elements that form the mainline of events related to the weakening of media freedom. These are, in turn, (a) the takeover of public media by influencing the staffing of media companies, (b) introducing a new, completely politicized body into the legal order, which duplicates the already existing and partially politicized media authority, and (c) exerting economic and legal pressure on the media independent of the authorities, so that they can be taken over by state-owned companies or businessmen favoring the authorities. As a whole, this decline in media freedom can be viewed as a strategy that antagonizes society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following public revelations of interference in the United States 2016 election, there has been widespread concern that online disinformation poses a serious threat to democracy. Governments have responded with a wide range of policies. However, there is little clarity in elite policy debates or academic literature about what it actually means for disinformation to endanger democracy, and how different policies might protect it. This article proposes that policies to address disinformation seek to defend three important normative goods of democratic systems: self-determination, accountable representation, and public deliberation. Policy responses to protect these goods tend to fall in three corresponding governance sectors: self-determination is the focus of international and national security policies; accountable representation is addressed through electoral regulation; and threats to the quality of public debate and deliberation are countered by media regulation. The article also reveals some of the challenges and risks in these policy sectors, which can be seen in both innovative and failed policy designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unlimited freedom made social media platforms are susceptible to misuse, misinformation, and thus, fake news. In the last few years, social media has turned out to be a massive player in shaping public discourse in a democratic space (Marda & Milan, 2018). Though there have been pressures from policymakers on service/platform providers, nothing concrete has built up towards accountability of the user or platform proprietors. In India, there has been a consistent increase of social media users and instances of the misuse of this medium. This paper seeks to examine how the propagation of fake news has disrupted the public sphere and possible policies that can be implemented to curb the plague of fake news. The relationship between various events of violence reported in India media and the role of fake news in instigating chaos are discussed in this paper. It also tries to review policies initiatives taken by various countries, especially in Europe and possible measures which India could take to restrict the flow of fake news. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Sampling" copyrighted works to create new expression has a rich history in creative culture, particularly in hip-hop music, a genre that values revision and recontextualization. However, courts are mixed on whether sampling should be considered fair use. Many courts have found that sampling harms the original artist's ability to license copyrighted material, thereby diminishing the work's marketability. But some courts recognize that sampling can enhance the market for the original work. The present study explores the tension between these opposing fair use models—what we call the "pure market substitute" and "market enhancement" models—currently percolating in lower courts. Through an analysis of cases involving hip-hop sampling and similar practices, we argue that the "market enhancement" model, which considers cultural and audience characteristics that impact marketability, better serves the goals of copyright law and should be more widely adopted. We further recommend that courts consider three factors when analyzing market impact in fair use sampling cases: provable effects of the sample on the market for the original work, the nature and duration of the original author's market participation, and the similarity between markets for the original and secondary works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise of automated journalism—the algorithmically driven conversion of structured data into news stories—presents a range of potentialities and pitfalls for news organizations. Chief among the potential legal hazards is one issue that has yet to be explored in journalism studies: the possibility that algorithms could produce libelous news content. Although the scenario may seem far-fetched, a review of legal cases involving algorithms and libel suggests that news organizations must seriously consider legal liability as they develop and deploy newswriting bots. Drawing on the American libel law framework, we outline two key issues to consider: (a) the complicated matter of determining fault in a case of algorithm-based libel, and (b) the inability of news organizations to adopt defenses similar to those used by Google and other providers of algorithmic content. These concerns are discussed in light of broader trends of automation and artificial intelligence in the media and information environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For communication instructors charged with safely and constructively educating students, incorporating social media in communication coursework presents a variety of problems. Among them are how to grade social media and how to respond to students’ social media mistakes, knowing these mistakes and corrections could follow students into their careers. This project surveyed journalism faculty (n = 125) and students (n = 323) to learn how each assess the challenges and opportunities of using social media in journalism coursework. Both groups expressed concerns about privacy, but faculty were also concerned about the legal consequences of students making mistakes publicly online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In October 2016, the Court of Appeal handed down judgment in Norman, an appeal against conviction for misconduct in public office on the basis of information sold to a newspaper by a serving prison officer. The particular interest in the appeal, however, comes from its wider engagement of rights afforded by Article 10 ECHR and the interaction of that provision with voluntary disclosure. The decision highlights that where information about a source is provided voluntarily by a newspaper, the source will struggle to argue that Article 10 rights have been infringed. This article explores the existing law on journalistic privilege and highlights the gap in the precedents that means, even post Norman, there is no clear answer to a question likely to be increasingly important in times of closer scrutiny of the media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This case study focusing on journalism curriculum in Tennessee sheds light on the obstacles that journalism schools face in efforts to include more instruction of sunshine laws into courses. Journalists use these laws to gather information to write their stories, either by attending public meetings or by filing open records requests. This study identified three issues—curriculum structure, faculty background, and ongoing sunshine law developments—as emergent themes that may pose similar concerns for journalism educators elsewhere. Pedagogical recommendations also are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Western paradigm has dominated approaches to communication and journalism studies -- particularly in the areas of theory, analysis and law and ethics. This article backgrounds important critiques of that paradigm, and considers how globalized communication and media studies has become, before exemplifying how a secular Buddhist perspective might offer 2,500 year-old analytical tools that can assist with media analysis, law and ethics. The article proposes the Buddha's Four Noble Truths, particularly the sila (moral/ethical) dimension of the fourth truth, the Noble Eightfold Path (magga), can serve as a fruitful tool for informing communication theory and analysis, and media law and ethics. The article begins by assessing the extent to which communication and media studies in Asia and the Pacific has shifted to accommodate non-Western approaches. In media analysis, it suggests the Buddha's teachings on Right Speech (samma vaca) offer key understandings to assist with the deconstruction of media texts. In media law and ethics, it extends the application of Right Speech principles to comparing defences to libel (defamation) as they have developed in four Western jurisdictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior to the 1997 constitutional crisis of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, journalists working for the tribe’s Cherokee Phoenix and Indian Advocate, then called the Cherokee Advocate, did not have any press freedoms similar to the First Amendment. However, the 2-year crisis led to a revision of the tribe’s constitution, out of which sprang the first Independent Press Act for a Native American nation. Although about 65 tribes in the United States have provisions for a free press in their constitutions, many are prohibited from acting on this provision due to tribal politics or other issues. The Cherokee Independent Press Act of 2000 for the first time guarantees journalists working for the Cherokee Phoenix newspaper the same rights and privileges that their non-Native journalist counterparts have who work under the freedoms granted by the First Amendment. This study examines the conditions that led to both the crisis and the new Act, summarizes the history of federal law restricting Native media, and explains the impact of the Cherokee law on Native American journalism. It also briefly looks at reaction to the law by other Native American tribal leaders and journalists who might be considering similar measures. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Emerging trends in international Internet defamation suits from the US, Canada, Australia and the UK, and international efforts in the European Union, American Law Institute, International Bar Association and the Hague Convention to harmonize the laws in international Internet defamation are evaluated to see emerging areas of commonality that might be useful in harmonizing the laws in the phenomenon of global Internet defamation liability. This study proposes the utilization of existing commonalities in laws, as well as emerging standards from the efforts to harmonize laws by the EU and current international judicial dispositions, as parameters for an international agreement on Internet torts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an overview of how journalists and the media in the post-Soviet countries are regulated by law, and of how in the sociopolitical structure of a law-based state their work can be optimized to become a foundation for public accord and stability. The author sees the legal conditions for a free press in the development of mechanisms of journalists' access to information, in the creation of public broadcasting, in the access of political opposition to the public (or state) media, in the denationalization of mass media outlets, etc. Limitations under the pretext of informational sovereignty or the fight against terrorism and political extremism should not undermine ideological and political plurality in the media and society. The article concludes with a comparison of the level of press freedom between all 15 post-Soviet states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]