The continued expansion and development of the Internet has generated a malicious side effect: social media intermediaries such as Facebook and Google permit the dispersion of third-party generated fake news and misinformation. While the term "fake news" tends to shift in definition, it most frequently denotes blatantly false information posted on the Internet intended to sway opinion. The social and political implications for this trend have become radical, as shown by the shooting at the Comet Ping Pong restaurant in Washington D.C. in early December 2016.2 Social media websites have been able to avert legal responsibility for this phenomenon—the First Amendment, along with the Communications Decency Act, create strong barriers to statutory or judicial regulation of this harmful journalistic trend. Despite showing signs of concern for this issue, Facebook in particular continues to insist on their "technology company" label, even though the social media outlet remains a major source for news and media.
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