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A comment on Disinformation and ‘fake news’: Final Report published. Parent comment

Re:Disinformation and ‘fake news’: Final Report published by A2017U1 on Monday February 18, 2019 @03:12AM (#19189241)
Can I take the dozens of news outlets in the Western world to court for lying about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction? It was their coverage which arguably resulted in public support with billions of tax dollars spent on a lie

Or were they simply reporting what they were told without proof?

It's a very slippery slope.

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Re:Disinformation and ‘fake news’: Final Report published by creato on Monday February 18, 2019 @04:23AM (#19189502)
> Can I take the dozens of news outlets in the Western world to court for lying about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction? It was their coverage which arguably resulted in public support with billions of tax dollars spent on a lie

The "dozens of news outlets" were not, as far as they knew, lying. They were reporting what their sources, many/most of them public, told them. If you want to punish someone for this lie, it should be the Bush administration.

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Re:Disinformation and ‘fake news’: Final Report published by dragonwriter on Monday February 18, 2019 @03:47AM (#19189380)
> Can I take the dozens of news outlets in the Western world to court for lying about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction?

Which specific ones?

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Re:Disinformation and ‘fake news’: Final Report published by pjc50 on Monday February 18, 2019 @03:37AM (#19189341)
I think any effective, honest campaign against lying in public life has to take both newspapers and politicians into account somehow. UK press regulation is absent but at the same time we have onerous libel law.

Having "accurately reporting what the government minister said" still open press to liability is .. interesting, especially when considering how to report Trump.

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