Call for Papers: Regulatory Responses to Misinformation

The Wikimedia/Yale Law School Initiative on Intermediaries and Information (WIII) is issuing a call for proposals for White Papers on regulatory responses to misinformation.  Successful applicants will receive a stipend of $1,000 upon completion of the paper, which should be in the range of 3,000 words.

Around the world, an increasing number of governments are responding to the threat posed by information disorder by passing repressive criminal content restrictions prohibiting the spread of false information. This trend has intensified with the current pandemic. But while international human rights standards is clear regarding the challenges associated with broad criminal restrictions prohibiting the spread of misinformation, the shape of an appropriate regulatory response to the challenge is much less clear. Short of resorting to broad criminal restrictions against the publication of false news, what should governments be doing to combat the threat of information disorder and to promote a healthy and robust civic discourse?

The WIII invites contributions for a series of short White Papers on the challenge associated with countering misinformation. The papers will be published in the fall, leading up to an online discussion to be hosted by the WIII. The WIII particularly encourages contributions from authors from the Global South, or who otherwise channel perspectives which are under-represented in the current policy debates.

To be considered, please submit  an abstract of no more than 500 words, a current CV, and a sample of a previous published article to michael.karanicolas@yale.edu by July 25. Selected authors will be expected to provide a first draft by September 30, and a revised draft by October 31.

The Wikimedia/Yale Law School Initiative on Intermediaries and Information (WIII) is a research initiative that aims to raise awareness of threats to an open internet, especially those affecting online intermediaries and their users, and to make creative policy suggestions that protect and promote internet-facilitated access to information. WIII grew out of an ongoing academic affiliation and collaboration between Yale Law School’s Information Society Project and the Wikimedia Foundation, and is made possible by a generous gift from the Wikimedia Foundation, in support of Wikimedia’s mission to build a world in which everyone can freely share in knowledge.