Former President Donald Trump used the term “fake news” to dismiss news stories he did not like, and his supporters adopted the label for anything they disagreed with. But now the term “fake news” has taken on a new and more nefarious meaning.
Russian lawmakers and President Vladimir Putin have approved a new law that criminalizes news reporting that government censors determine is “fake.” Sadly, the story may be 100 percent accurate, but if it conflicts with Putin’s propaganda or even uses words such as “war” and “invasion” to describe the attack on Ukraine, then the journalist can be arrested and sent to prison for up to 15 years.
That law should push Russia ahead of North Korea and Eritrea to the top of the Committee to Protect Journalists’ list of most censored countries.
The Russian crackdown on the press has been building for years as Putin’s paranoia grows, but now it has reached Orwellian levels where the truth is fake and the false is true. “History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the part is always right,” to quote 1984.
Contrast that with the United States. Media freedom is one of the bedrocks of the country, ingrained in the very First Amendment to the Constitution. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” [emphasis added]
One of the primary benefits of that protection is the right to disagree with and hold opinions different from the government without fear of penalty. The late U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas said, “Acceptance by government of a dissident press is a measure of the maturity of a nation.”
By that standard, Russia’s government is immature, paranoid and naïve, as well as repressive. How can their people have informed opinions about the actions of their government when they are fed half-truths and outright lies.
Gene Policinski, chief operating officer of the Freedom Forum Institute and the Institution’s First Amendment Center said, by contrast, the free press in America presents facts, as well as diverse opinions, to help citizens understand the war.
“Americans have access across a variety of news outlets to truthful, verified information about this military atrocity, which allows them to make their own decisions about appropriate actions by our government,” Policinski said. “Welcome to democracy and the First Amendment in Action.”
American media are far from perfect. There are biases and mistakes. Opinion is too often mixed with objective news. Media outlets and a growing number of information websites present the “news” with a particular slant. And, yes, some just report “fake news.”
But, thanks to the First Amendment, not even fake news will result in jail, while in Russian just telling the truth will have severe consequences.