假新聞、社群媒體與網路時代的言論自由

Fake News, Social Media, and the Freedom of Speech in the Internet Era

古典的言論自由法理論，對於「不良善的言論要倚賴更多更良善的言論治癒」的理念，有著一定的信仰。然而，當「假新聞」碰上「網路」，成為「網路假新聞」時，卻有部分論者抱持不同的態度，認為今日社群媒體加速了假新聞的傳布，同時也加遽了對民主社會的傷害，因而主張國家應採取斷然措施防堵假新聞的弊害。本文之作，即從言論自由保護的視角出發，檢視管制論與反管制論的觀點，省思政府權力在網路時代可以扮演的角色功能，凝萃出「資訊的問題應以資訊矯治」此一核心價值，並據此進一步就現階段對抗假新聞的法制方向與策略，提出幾點初步的評估與建議。

The “marketplace of ideas” metaphor in the free speech theory urges that “more speech”, instead of enforced silence, is rightly the remedy to avert the evil of the falsehood and fallacies. However, some advocates maintain that the government should take some positive measures to combat the so-called “fake news” (disinformation) because nowadays the thriving social media would aggravate the damage and harm resulted from the fake news. They believe, without government intervention, the fake news will gradually erode the democratic process in this Internet era. Through examining the propositions from both of the pro-regulation and anti-regulation camp in light of the freedom of speech, this article suggests that “the problem of information is best rectified by the information”. Accordingly, for well-managing the fake news issue, the state should mainly rely on soft measures, such as promoting the third-party “facts-checking” mechanism, and encouraging social media to adopt the “notice-and-flag” policy. And if the coercive punishment is meant to be imposed by law, the “dis-integration” approach, which the penalty is prescribed by individual administrative enactment rather than by one united code, is a more desirable way.