Propaganda techniques

"The Radio and Television Act is a fairly "narrow garment", the regulation has to change with its sector, there is overregulation in the radio and television, and the online space is completely out of regulation, and actually the dangerous phenomena go right from there", announced on bTV Chairman of the Council for Electronic Media Sofia Vladimirova.

Balkan countries are the most vulnerable in Europe to the "fake" news and post-truth phenomenon, a new report says, blaming media that are highly controlled by the state or business interests, educational deficiencies and low overall trust levels in society.

Those are the main conclusions of the Media Literacy Index compiled by the Open Society Institute, OSI, in Sofia.

The Malaysian government has proposed a law to combat "fake news" which could see offenders jailed for 10 years, sparking fears authorities aim to stifle criticism as elections loom.

With allegations of Russian interference and a flood of "fake news," the race for Mexico's presidential election is shaping up to look a lot like the last one in its giant northern neighbor, the United States.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg told The New York Times on Thursday that Macedonia had become involved in the spread of fake news.

Discussing the scandal involving British data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica obtaining access to more than 50 million Facebook users' data in 2014, he said: 

YouTube video sharing platform plans to step up measures against the publication of video content that contains deliberately false or misleading information, reports actualno. 

 Pope Francis on Wednesday condemned the "evil" of fake news, saying journalists and social media users should shun and unmask manipulative "snake tactics" that foment division to serve political and economic interests, Reuters reported. 

"Fake news is a sign of intolerant and hypersensitive

 French President Emmanuel Macron has announced plans for a new law to combat so-called fake news, BBCreports. 

He said that during elections social media would face tougher rules over the content that they put online.

US President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter late last night that he will hold fake news awards next week, DPA reported.

Trump, who often defines fake news as critical of his government's media publications, said the awards would be "dishonesty" and "gruesome reflection."

Australia's competition regulator said on Monday it would investigate whether U.S. online giants Facebook and Alphabet Inc's Google has disrupted the news media market to the detriment of publishers and consumers, reported Reuters.