Governments Making 'Fake News' a Crime Risk Stifling Real Journalism—Accidentally or Intentionally

The rapid spread of fake news can influence millions of people, impacting elections and financial markets. A study on the impact of fake news on the 2016 U.S. presidential election, for instance, has found that fake news stories about Hillary Clinton were “very strongly linked” to the defection of voters who supported Barack Obama in the previous election.