Alerts | Fake news regulation passed during Covid-19

New Puerto Rico law criminalizes spreading ‘false information’ about emergency measures

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Authorities in Puerto Rico have approved a new law that makes it illegal for media outlets or social media accounts “to transmit or allow the transmission” of “false information” with the intention of creating “confusion, panic, or public hysteria” about the government’s COVID-19 emergency measures and proclamations. The bill, which has been approved by Puerto Rico’s governor, imposes heavy fines for those found guilty.

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