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Can EU Data Protection Legislation Help to Counter “Fake News” and Other Threats to Democracy?

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E-Democracy – Safeguarding Democracy and Human Rights in the Digital Age (e-Democracy 2019)

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 1111))

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Abstract

This paper examines how data protection can help to fight the root causes of “fake news”, while supporting the exercise of other fundamental rights such as the right to free expression, non-discrimination, effective remedy and the right to vote. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the draft e-Privacy Regulation are explored as legal instruments that could be applied against fake news, including during times of election. While privacy is by no means a magical solution to all problems in internet, this paper claims that proper enforcement of the EU data protection legislation provides a powerful instrument to address the root causes of fake news and reduce the extent to which personal data has been so far misused in the digital space, including for manipulation by spreading false information to improperly influence people’s decisions or opinions.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Law Faculty of Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Sofia, Bulgaria

    Yordanka Ivanova

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  1. Yordanka Ivanova
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Correspondence to Yordanka Ivanova .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Open University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Sokratis Katsikas

  2. Hellenic Data Protection Authority, Athens, Greece

    Vasilios Zorkadis

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Ivanova, Y. (2020). Can EU Data Protection Legislation Help to Counter “Fake News” and Other Threats to Democracy?. In: Katsikas, S., Zorkadis, V. (eds) E-Democracy – Safeguarding Democracy and Human Rights in the Digital Age. e-Democracy 2019. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1111. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37545-4_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37545-4_15

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-37544-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-37545-4

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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