不實言論與美國憲法增修條文第一條

False Speech and the First Amendment

不實言論，或今日廣泛所稱的「假新聞」並非新興現象，相關爭議於歷史上隨處可見，例如1798年美國第五屆國會與其眾多制憲者通過的僑民法與鎮壓叛亂法案（Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798），即被認為係有關不實言論之立法。歷史於21世紀初期重演，但於此時，對於不實言論的關注移至已成為日常用語的「假新聞」一詞。假新聞究屬歷史問題的延續或為一嶄新問題？筆者於本文以現代網路影響為基礎，提出假新聞不同於以往不實言論之觀點，並提醒假新聞將觸發涉及憲法增修條文第一條的法律難題。筆者撰寫本文目的非為提供不實言論解決方法，而僅係辨識與提出涉及不實言論之問題。且筆者認為讀者應認識到，不實言論問題於過去與現代有何差異，以及現代不實言論問題對於言論自由所致之挑戰。

False speech—what today is called “fake news”—is nothing new. Throughout the history, issues concerning false speech have arisen. For example, early in American history, Congress, with many of the Constitution’s drafters and ratifiers participating, adopted the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798. Again now, early in the twenty-first century, there is a focus on false speech. The phrase “fake news” has become part of the vernacular. Is this just a continuation of an issue that has been part of American history since its earliest days, or is it somehow different? In this Essay I want to suggest that the internet has made the issue different from times past and will raise difficult issues of First Amendment law. My goal in this Essay is more to identify issues concerning false speech than to offer solutions. It is important to recognize both how the problems are different than those that have been confronted before and the challenges these new problems pose under the First Amendment.