Home > 1.3.1.1.2 Accessibility to the media by participants in the election > Report on Electoral Law and Electoral Administration in Europe
 
 
 
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Paragraph 185
 

It should be noted, however, that prohibitions of the dissemination of “false news” – in contrast, for instance, to the prohibition of hate speech – is usually incompatible with international standards for restrictions on freedom of expression (see also Joint Declaration on Freedom of Expression and “Fake News”, Disinformation and Propaganda of 2017, adopted by special rapporteurs and representatives on freedom of expression and/or the media of the United Nations, the OSCE, the Organization of American States and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights). Thus, alternative means need to be employed to encounter online disinformation, such as promoting media literacy programmes and developing tools for empowering users to identify (e.g. flagging, labelling, blacklisting) and counter (e.g. fact-checking, factual corrections) disinformation.