Why regulations on empirical claims in the media are justified

Bibliographic Data

ID10690941
AuthorsJohn J Park (0000-0003-2757-2415, California State University, Sacramento, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume74
Issue4
Pages1274-1295
Publication date2024-09-25
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Philosophical Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0031-8094 • E-ISSN: 1467-9213
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/pq/pqae082
OpenAlexW4400639909
LanguageEN
References cited16

In light of rampant fake news and disinformation in today's press and social media, I provide a new consequentialist argument that regulations on the media pertaining to certain false verifiable empirical facts are warranted. This contention is based in part on a collection of pre-existing empirical findings that I newly piece together from political science and psychology demonstrating that a post-truth society is likely with current media. My position is then defended from several counters, such as that it violates deontological rights to free speech and to freedom of the press, that free speech leads to the acquisition of truth, and that government regulators can be biased and corrupt

Argument (complex analysis) · Disinformation · Economics · Empirical evidence · Empirical research · Epistemology · Free speech · Freedom of the press · Government (linguistics) · Internet privacy · Law and economics · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Position (finance) · Public relations · Social media · Sociology · Computer Science · Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection · Law · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Philosophy · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment

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