Rabat – French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to introduce a law to block fake news spread on the internet throughout the upcoming French election campaigns.
For Macron, the law against fake news will “protect democracy,” describing it as a threat to “liberal democracies,” reported British news outlet The Guardian.
He added that propaganda accounts are broadening their influences around the world, spreading lies about officials, journalists and public figures. In efforts to fight fake news, Macron said that he would set a law that imposes strict rules on social media to reveal the sources of their news content.
The president explained that the law will set tough rules throughout election campaigns on social media’s content published online.
“We will develop our legal system to protect democracy from fake news,” said the president who was quoted by AFP.
The president added that the regulations of this law would give unconditional authority to France’s audiovisual regulator in order to tackle any “destabilization attempted by television channels controlled or influenced by foreign states,” reported British outlet BBC.
In the 2017 French presidential elections, Macron’s opponent Marine Le Pen raised unfounded allegations against Macron just days before the election, claiming that the French leader owns offshore banking accounts.
Macron strongly denounced the allegations, describing them as fake news.
