LexisNexis® presents


Fake News: The Law of False Publications


  • Recording Date: 10/26/2017
  • Duration: 95 minutes
  • Registration Fee: Complimentary


About this Webcast:

“Fake news” – the online publication of intentionally or knowingly false statements of fact – has evolved in recent years into a passionately criticized Internet phenomenon. Fake news publications are conceived and disseminated (typically via social media) with hopes of going “viral,” typically for purposes of profit or social influence.


Attorneys David O. Klein and Joshua R. Wueller of Klein Moynihan Turco LLP believe that a backlash against fake news may soon come on many fronts. “As media attention and public condemnation of fake news continues to intensify,” they wrote recently, “we predict that more lawmakers, regulators, courts, and private citizens will explore legal and regulatory solutions that balance the societal importance of truth-seeking with the constitutional right to speak freely (and, at times, to lie).”

Why should this changing legal and regulatory landscape concern digital media publishers? What about law firms that publish blogs or use information from the Web? What do recent fake news events tell us? What existing laws have been utilized to target fake news publishers?

On Oct. 26, 2017, our panel of practicing attorneys, a media law professor, and a legal news journalist, discussed:

What is “fake news” and why is it published?

The First Amendment and a constitutional “right to lie”?

Civil claims for relief (e.g., defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, intellectual property violations)

Criminal and regulatory enforcement

Industry restrictions against fake news publication

Practical takeaways for digital media publishers


Speakers

David O. Klein | Partner | Klein Moynihan Turco LLP

Joshua Wueller | Associate | Klein Moynihan Turco LLP

Eric P. Johnson, J.D., Ph.D. | Assistant Professor of Journalism | University of South Carolina

Anne Urda | Editor in Chief | Law360, part of LexisNexis®