Irish parliament to debate bill proposing jail time for spreading fake news – #FakeNews

Irish parliament to debate bill proposing jail time for spreading fake news:

An Irish politician has proposed new laws that will see the spreading of fake news, and the use of bots to influence political debate, punished by up to five years in jail.

The proposals will be brought before the Dail (Irish Parliament) on Wednesday by Fianna Fail TD (MP) James Lawless. Contained within the bill are a number of restrictions relating to online political advertising which Lawless described to RT.com as:

“Any promotional material directed towards a political end – to promote a candidate for political office, to promote a particular political party, to influence the outcome of a referendum, or to influence an industrial relations dispute.”

Lawless pointed to alleged Russian meddling, despite a lack of concrete evidence, in both the US election and the Brexit referendum as the catalyst for his ‘Online Advertising and Social Media (Transparency) Bill 2017.’

H/t reader kevin a.

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