Clicks at Any Cost: Why Regulation Won't Upend the Economics of Fake News

Increasingly, the production of fake news has become industrialized; enterprising entrepreneurs are deceiving Internet users with false information while earning significant sums of money. The problem of fake news and misinformation, however, is not one solely brought about by the increase in digital technology. Historically, campaigns of misinformation have been used to achieve social, political, and economic goals long before the Internet was commonplace. But, recent calls to regulate fake news content contravene American law and run afoul of our nation’s laissez-faire approach to the regulation of false or misleading information.

We argue that government-imposed, speech-limiting restrictions cannot contain fake news and, as a result, should not be the answer to the modern fake news epidemic. Instead, the key to combatting the effects of fake news lies in a variety of private-sector initiatives and speech-enhancing protocols. Programs designed to reiterate the importance of media literacy and revitalize civic participation are the cornerstone to ensuring a successful democracy in a digital world.