Update – A bill by Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez, D-Los Angeles, would have aimed to create media literacy to spot fake news was killed Friday by the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
Here is the original January 11 press release for when Assemblyman Gomez released the bill:
Assemblymember Gomez Introduces Fake News Act of 2017
Sacramento, CA – Assemblymember Jimmy Gomez, AD 51, introduced Assembly Bill (AB) 155 to address what has now been described as “fake news.” Designed to ensure that upcoming generations of online readers possess the analytical skills needed to spot fake news, the bill would direct the Instructional Quality Commission to develop and adopt curriculum standards and frameworks that incorporate civic online reasoning, for English Language Arts, Mathematics, History, Social Science, and Science.
“Recently, we have seen the corrupting effects of a deliberate propaganda campaign driven by fake news. When fake news is repeated, it becomes difficult for the public to discern what’s real. These attempts to mislead readers pose a direct threat to our democracy. AB 155 will call for educators to incorporate civic online reasoning into their high school curricula. Such a curriculum will prepare Californians to recognize the difference between news intended to inform and fake news intended to mislead,” said Assemblymember Gomez.
A recent study by Stanford’s Graduate School of Education has shown that the inability to distinguish fake news from real news is particularly pronounced among young people. Young people tend to accept information as it’s presented, rarely questioning where the news originated or verifying its content. According to the study, young people struggle to differentiate between nested advertising—an increasingly common type of advertising that tries to sell or promote a product by posing as a news article—from real news stories.
The inability of young people to distinguish real news from fake news makes them less informed about important civic issues and poses a direct threat to our democracy. We need to take steps to prepare students to be as accurately informed as they can be in an increasingly misleading online world.
14 comments
I don’t believe it says in the Bill of Rights that we have the right to news that is approved for us to see. Who decides what’s real and what’s fake? If they pass this law, not only can and will it sensor fake news, but they now have the ability to make real news illegal if they don’t like it or doesn’t fit for their agenda.
You can find example after example of fake news in the Press and the Contra Costa times. Both publications do next to nothing to verify their information. Most often their stories contain bad info and they are hesitant to print corrections because by doing so they would expose themselves as horrible reporting agencies. Instead they try to promote their own news by disguising it as editorials.
There is a reason that newspapers are a dying industry. They cannot afford to hire honest hard working reporters, so we get what we pay for. The press is free and they cannot even give away the cctimes.
Good riddance!
I stopped subscribing to the Times years ago when they made their editorial section the center piece of the paper. I miss the good old days when it used to be focused on sports.
Too bad, was looking forward to students getting exposed to the horrible and biased reporting by the Antioch Herald. This was a terrible bill and agree with the previous comment of who gets to decide what is real or fake. Only the market should decide that, not legislators who are in it for their own personal gain.
ECT is fake news, all he does is post press releases of idiots DeSaulnier, McNerney and Frazier.
I wish they had critical thinking as a requirement in high school and not wait until college to take a semester of breaking down an argument looking for the reason the article is misleading at a minimum and down right fake at most. I would have been able to challenge my teachers when they used tactics such as ‘red herons” or the most used argument “generalization”. I would have more trust in our elections if 18 year old voters had passed this class. Never ask a politician to weaken their chances at success with poor arguments.
ECT is totally fake news. Basically they are part of the democrat media wing, totally biased.
@TheDude,
Yet you continue to post here on what you call “fake news”. If we are fake (just like your name), why do you continue to visit and waste your time? Clearly we provide value to you in some form.
We publish content, it doesn’t make it fake, it means you don’t agree with some of the elected officials who continue to put out press releases. Just because we publish it, doesn’t mean we agree with some of these crazy bills proposed or insane statements being made.
Fake news about fake news. ECT is Contra Costa version of CNN!!
Fake news
@The_Dude so then what is “real” news to you?
biased news = fake news
I must comment on ECT fake news comment. While ECT does have value, sometimes some opposite view points that are attempted to be posted as an opinion disappear. This shows bias by ECT. Maybe there are more than one person who reviews comments.However, I have to respect ECT has allowed the Fake News comment through.
Comments like this are the reason most Americans are moderates. The far left and far right are extremists, and equally pathetic. Get a life.
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