One participant in the World Economic Forum's panel on "The Clear and Present Danger of Disinformation" at their annual meeting in Davos on Tuesday had a chilling prediction for hate speech laws in the United States.
The panel, hosted by former CNN host Brian Stelter, also featured Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) and Arthur Gregg Sulzberger, the chairman of The New York Times Company.
European Commission Vice President for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová, who is from the Czech Republic, said there are reasons why many parts in Europe have strong speech code laws and the United States could soon have them too.
"Illegal hate speech, which you will have soon also in the U.S., I think that we have a strong reason why we have this in the criminal law," Jourová said. "We need to the platforms to simply work with the language and to identify such cases."
Sulzberger said overall disinformation is "the most existential" challenge and whatever problems with reporting stories inaccurately, the New York Times has made corrections.
NYT’s Sulzberger: Disinformation is "the most existential" challenge we’re grappling with as a society #wef23 pic.twitter.com/2l55rIH7nU
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) January 17, 2023
NYT’s Sulzberger: "When we make mistakes, we acknowledge them in public and we correct them" #wef23 pic.twitter.com/Nuh4Fdr8IR
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) January 17, 2023
Moulton specifically called out Rep. George Santos (R-NY) for making up claims about his life as an example of disinformation, despite other members of Congress, including President Joe Biden, having long histories of making false claims to boost their credentials.
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