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Fake News and Misinformation Policy Lab Practicum (Spring 2017)

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Fake News and Misinformation Policy Lab Practicum (Spring 2017) ST ANFORD Fake News & Misinformation Policy Practicum 2017 PRACTICUM RESEARCFacebookH TEAM: Research Team Jacob Finkel, JD ’19, Steven Jiang,Mufan BS ’17, Luo, PhD ‘22 Mufan Luo, PhD ’22, Rebecca Mears, JD/MPP ’19, Danaë Metaxa-Kakavouli, PhD ’20Camille, Peeples, JD ‘18 Camille Peeples, JD ’18, BrendanArjun Sasso, Shenoy,JD ’19, JD ‘19 Arjun Shenoy, JD ’19, Vincent Sheu, JD/MS ’18 , Nicolás Torres-Echeverry, JSM ’17 Google Research Team INSTRUCTOR AND PROJECTDanaë LEAD MetaxaS: -Kakavouli, PhD ‘20 Nicolás Torres-Echeverry, JSM ‘17 SENATOR RUSS FEINGOLD Edwin A. Heafey, Jr., Visiting Professor of Law Luciana Herman, Ph.D. Twitter Research Team Lecturer in Law Program Director, Law and Policy LabJacob Finkel, JD ‘19 Steven Jiang, BS ‘17 Ashwin Aravind, JD ‘18 Teaching Assistant Rebecca Mears, JD/MPP ‘19 Katie Joseff, MA ‘19 Research Assistant Reddit Research Team October POLICY CLIENT: Brendan Sasso, JD ‘19 Hewlett Foundation MadisonVincent Initiative Sheu, JD/MS ’18 2017 1 Acknowledgements This report reflects the research and analysis of an inter-disciplinary law and graduate student team enrolled in the Stanford Law School Fake News and Misinformation Policy Lab Practicum (Spring 2017). Under the guidance of instructor Senator Russ Feingold, the Edwin A. Heafey Visiting Professor of Law, the practicum surveyed the roles of four major online platforms in the spread of fake news beginning with the 2016 U.S. election. Assisting Senator Feingold in the practicum were Policy Lab Program Director and Lecturer Luciana Herman, Ph.D., and Teaching Assistant Ashwin Aravind, J.D. ’18. Brendan Sasso, J.D. ’19, served as the exceptional lead student editor for the report. The project originated in conversations between Paul Brest, faculty director of the Policy Lab, Larry Kramer, President of the Hewlett Foundation, and Senator Feingold, who discussed issues related to the fake news phenomenon in the immediate wake of the U.S. 2016 state and federal elections. The Hewlett Foundation Madison Initiative sought to track the effects of misinformation on democratic discourse and decision-making and proved a vital policy client in guiding and funding the research of the practicum. The research team extends a special thanks to Kelly Born, Program Officer for the Madison Initiative, who offered extensive guidance to the research teams and detailed input on drafts of this final report. Her expertise proved invaluable in orienting the research around the roles of the platforms and grounded students in complex issues of market incentives. Hewlett President Larry Kramer deftly guided the research team with connections between legal and policy issues that now ground continuing research in the 2017-18 academic year, under the direction of Professor Nathaniel Persily. The project was enriched by the guidance and editorial input of scholars and experts. We would like to thank Stanford Professors Jeff Hancock (Communications) and Michal Kosinski (Graduate School of Business) for guiding our research on evaluating the underlying algorithms and consumer micro-targeting techniques of the four platforms; Daphne Keller, Director of Intermediary Liability at the Stanford Center for Internet & Society, for her crucial direction on international laws and regulations governing intermediary liability; and to the 2016-17 Knight Journalism Fellows who engaged us in a lively roundtable about the impact of the four platforms’ business models on contemporary journalism. Additionally, we would also like to acknowledge the support of people and departments at Stanford Law School: Sean Kaneshiro, Reference Librarian for the Robert Crown Law Library, who aided students in researching breaking news as well as underlying legal cases and policy issues; Professor Phillip Malone, Director of the Juelsgaard Innovation and Intellectual Property Clinic, who served as faculty support for the online survey tool and provided patient guidance through the IRB process; and to Stephanie Basso who offered essential administrative and organizational support for all the activities of the practicum, including travel by the research team and a special symposium co-hosted by the Handa Center for Human Rights. 2 We are grateful to the Handa Center for feedback on the project and for co-hosting a symposium featuring the initial research findings (May 2017). Acting Associate Director Jessie Brunner recognized the significance of the research in its early stage and helped to arrange access to Handa Center faculty and scholars. Meredith Vostrejs, Handa Center Program Manager, generously gave her time to help organize the symposium on our findings. We are also grateful to the Newseum and to the inimitable Esther Wojcicki, in her role overseeing the journalism program at Palo Alto High School. Newseum Chief Operating Officer, Gene Policinski, invited us to observe a Newseum pilot high school news literacy curriculum, "Fighting Fake News: How to Help Your Students Outsmart Trolls and Troublemakers,” taking place in Ms. Wojcicki’s journalism class. We joined students and Palo Alto High School journalism faculty in providing feedback on the pilot ahead of its formal launch as part of the Newseum Educational Institute. Finally, the project continues in academic year 2017-18 under the guidance of Nathaniel Persily, the James B. McClathchey Professor of Law, who has assembled an interdisciplinary team of law, communications, public policy, and computer science students to research and extend conclusions from this report. The continuing work of the Fake News and Misinformation practicum will produce a second set of findings and recommendations in summer 2018. About the Stanford Law School Policy Lab Engagement in public policy is a core mission of teaching and research at Stanford Law School. The Law and Policy Lab (The Policy Lab) offers students an immersive experience in finding solutions to some of the world’s most pressing issues. Under the guidance of seasoned faculty advisers, Law and Policy Lab students counsel real-world clients in an array of areas, including education, intellectual property, public enterprises in developing countries, policing and technology, and energy policy. Policy labs address policy problems for real clients, using analytic approaches that supplement traditional legal analysis. The clients may be local, state or federal public agencies or officials, or private non-profit entities such as NGOs and foundations. Typically, policy labs assist clients in deciding whether and how qualitative or quantitative empirical evidence can be brought to bear to better understand the nature or magnitude of their particular policy problem, and identify and assess policy options. The methods may include comparative case studies, population surveys, stakeholder interviews, experimental methods, program evaluation or big data science, and a mix of qualitative and quantitative analysis. Faculty and students may apply theoretical perspectives from cognitive and social psychology, decision theory, economics, organizational behavior, political science or other behavioral science disciplines. The resulting deliverables reflect the needs of the client with most resulting in an oral or written policy briefing for key decision-makers. 3 Directed by former SLS Dean Paul Brest, the Law and Policy Lab reflects the school’s belief that systematic examination of societal problems, informed by rigorous data analysis, can generate solutions to society’s most challenging public problems. In addition to policy analysis, students hone the communications skills needed to translate their findings into actionable measures for policy leaders and the communities they serve. The projects emphasize teamwork and collaboration, and many are interdisciplinary, giving law students the opportunity to work with faculty and colleagues from across the university with expertise in such fields as technology, environmental engineering, medicine, and international diplomacy, among others. 4 Table of Contents Executive Summary .......................................................................................................... 9 Section 1. Legal and Regulatory Analysis..................................................................... 16 Section 2. Facebook ......................................................................................................... 31 I. Introduction & Overview ....................................................................................... 31 Platform Analysis .................................................................................................... 32 Near-term Recommendations ................................................................................ 33 Suggested Next Steps for Research ....................................................................... 33 II. Problem Statement.................................................................................................. 34 III. Mission Statement / Goals ...................................................................................... 34 IV. Context for the Problem ......................................................................................... 35 V. Roadmap .................................................................................................................. 39 VI. Platform Analysis .................................................................................................... 39 VII. Media Analysis .......................................................................................................
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