>I know why politicians don't care about the consequences of such actions, but I'm always surprised of the support here on HN for such actions, when the horrible, slippery-slope consequences should be obvious.

Now, just to point out, but "fake news" at this point has tipped elections and, in at least one case, led a man to go shoot up a pizzeria.

I like free speech as much as the next guy, but Germany has hate-speech and incitement-to-violence laws for a reason. In addition, if Facebook is going to work as a de facto monopoly, it should be treated with de jure public utility status. It's not a start-up competing against five other social networks anymore: it's the first or second most-trafficked website on Earth, and the single most common news source for internet users on Earth.

If there really were five different social networks with their own approaches to fake news and lively competition for users, I wouldn't favor state action until the line of incitement is crossed. As it is, Facebook holds a monopoly.