The Future of Freedom of Expression

This chapter provides a comprehensive conceptual framework for understanding disinformation and fake news within the contemporary post-truth era. The research addresses the complex condition of the online public sphere, characterised by widespread false information, concentrated platform power, and transformed media economics that challenge traditional journalism. The study establishes clear definitional boundaries between misinformation (false information shared without malicious intent), disinformation (deliberately false information created to deceive and cause harm), and malinformation (genuine information used maliciously). The author systematically maps related phenomena including satire, hoaxes, rumours, propaganda, trolling, clickbait, and conspiracy theories, each serving different purposes within the information disorder landscape. Central to the analysis is the conceptualisation of fake news as the paradigmatic form of disinformation, defined as news articles that are intentionally and verifiably false and could mislead readers. The chapter identifies critical structural challenges undermining democratic discourse, including information pollution that makes it difficult for citizens to distinguish credible sources, platform concentration among major technology companies, and economic disruption of conventional journalism funding models. Drawing on Habermas’s theoretical framework, the research highlights a fundamental challenge where fake news can no longer be identified as such, underscoring the erosion of shared epistemological foundations necessary for democratic deliberation and public sphere integrity.