Should the government regulate social media sites, as a means to prevent fake news and misinformation?

No, but social media companies should be obligated to do better checks on high risk accounts and shut them down to prevent hate speech. E.g the publication and live video feed of the Christchurch mosque attacks

The leg seats parties and formed news fake and left wings and supporters by legal in socialist by legend former UK prime minister Boris Johnson and former US president Donald Trump hoping the straight wings gives government changes

No, but schools should have compulsory classes on how to find legitimate research and unbiased information

No, they should not regulate it but government should remove all social media. Time waster for the masses

It should be illegal to literally make stuff & pot stir with misleading headlines to get attention like stuff & Herald always do. Also stop talking about gangs what so ever. No mention of them unless it’s about all the bad stuff they do. We are no under any circumstances feel sorry for any of them.

The government should pass legislation so that it requires social media companies to regulate themselves but requirements are set by the government.

No, the government must regulate fairness as opposed to truth. Social media companies should only be required to honestly declare their political positions publicly and transparently so that users have the chance to be aware of their biases.

No, the regulations can be easily exploited

No but official news/tabloid companies that post in NZ social media should be held to the broadcasting standards.

No, but employ AI to regulate online social media site content.

The government can combat fake news in other ways, such as critical thinking skills, sharing true information

should be regulated but relatively independent body from govt

Independent, non-governmental regulation and increased access/algorithms that highlight discussions and critical thinking

Social media sites should be responsible for verifying accuracy.

If your rationale is to regulate "fake news" then you'd need to also regulate religions, private schools, the "actual" news. People are full of crazy ideas everywhere. Rather than regulate platforms and channels, increase investment in making trustworthy sources more visible and accessible, and encourage curiosity and critical thinking.

They should definitely be monitored for extreme views

We know that social media companies try to drive engagement and use controversy to do so. There needs to be a way to penalise these companies for sending people down rabbit holes, without restricting the sharing of information.

I don't think it's the government's role to regulate the internet, but it would be better to have process by which they can engage with social media companies to address misinformation

This is a omplex issue that needs more thought and policy development

The government shouldn't be the one to regulate social media sites but they should be regulated.

No, not specifically social media sites, but they should regulate certain types of algorithms and other means by which fake news is perpetuated

There should be more enforcement of things like Twitter's factchecking, but any sort of governmental reach into social media could put people in danger if we slide into fascism.

Only misinformation with a high likelihood of causing harm. Otherwise, invest in educating people learn critical thinking and recognising fake news.

No, but Deep fake AI should be.

Yes, it should be monitored, but posts that are misinformation etc should be flagged with links to unbiased resources

The media in general is a problem. No quality media in NZ. They all sensationalise and are economic with the truth and facts.

Not government, but an independent body.

Yes, but the government should not determine what is fake or real news, and possibly get proper insight beforehand.

Yes but make the company liable for damages

I think they should be regulated because the spread of un verified information is increasingly dangerous in the global world. But I think it would be very hard / difficult to regulate this.

too complicated for a single question

Block all porn

No, however the government should introduce critical analysis of media into the curriculum for school children to increase awareness of fake news and misinformation

Social media should be regulated by not by the government

No but education should be provided

Social media platforms should be regulated but not by the government. As we have learned, current overseas government(s) have been part of the dissemination of disinformation and censoring speech to further their own agendas rather than letting the people they represent have their say

Yes, so long as the regulations are backed by proof and contestable reasoning is given as to why the decision was made

Yes, but there is potential for governments to go a bit “1984” so there would need to be a non-partisan 3rd party

No, not the government. But I believe social media sites have a responsibility to remove information that lacks scientific backing

Monitored but not regulated, so that appropriate action/information can be released to offset potentially harmful content

Yes, social media companies should be treated as publishers responsible for the messages they promote

Yes, misinformation should be flagged with a warning but not censored

No, but social media and cyber safety needs to be seriously addressed in primary school education. We live in a digital age, and have done for decades now - the education system moves too slowly.

Yes, but I don’t trust the current government to determine what is fake or real news

The government should be able to highlight risky or misinformation content rather than restrict it

Someone should regulate but not the government

The government has better things to do

Yes, to stop negative talk about the government

Yes, in the broadest sense. Social media should have regulations and standards to adhere to, and an independent watchdog to hold them accountable to those standards. The government sets these regulations, but does not control them. Citizens need ways to protect themselves from online harm such as bullying, slander and hate speech. Social media companies will not provide these ways unless a large entity such as the government compels them to.

The internet shouldn't be moderated or regulated by the government

Yes, they should fall under the same broadcast guidelines and requirements for accuracy as other media

No, but require critical thinking and higher order reasoning skills to be a mandatory part of NCEA

No, I don't trust the government to determine what is fake or real news. It needs to be undertaken by an unbiased third party, not the government or the social media site

No bans just warnings

Regulate algorithms but not the content and speech itself

Yes, but no baning it

Yes as long as regulating social media sites does not mean manipulation of opinions by the government into what the government wants us to believe, to suit their own purposes.

There should be mandatory reports for cases of cyber bullying to educate and support

Social media companies should be socially responsible and encouraged to self-regulate. Forcing regulation on them will create a black-market concept for freedom of speech (especially including hate-speech)

Only thing I think should happen with social media I seen it on a thing on a show not long ago is at schools have all phones locked in a case for the day I don’t think kids need them in school

There should be a government department in charge of working with similar countries analysing and investigating reports of misinformation, with websites featuring a Verified Tick for information proved to be correct.

We need safe guards against fake news and misinformation but it needs to be regulated by a neutral entity who have nothing to gain by preventing or allowing certain information to be seen

It depends on the site’s history

No, but should provide education on how to detect misinformation

No because the government always has an agenda so they could change things to work for them

No but make policies that mean that sites have to themselves fact check their information to make sure there isn’t fake news.

There should be guidelines and regulations on those but it should not be in favour of a particular party, should be an independent commission.

There should be more education around how to determine fake news. Publishing something that is not true is already covered by existing laws.

A separate body should do this

They should be nationalised

No, just regulate news on social media instead of social media itself

Somewhat, they should flag things with fake news tags but not delete it.

No, but there should be consequences for social media hate speech and bullying.

Yes but regulated by an outside organisation.

yes, but it should be done with complete transparency and it has to be proven as a fact

No, but social media should control its self unless their site is being used to peddle violence or hate against others.

No, bit more education around social media needs to be taught to all ages

No, the government should work to educate people on how to recognise misinformation for themselves.

No social media companies should

No but the companies should be treated as content providers as opposed to neutral platforms and as such lose any legal protections.

An independent news team could provide warnings independent of govt.

No but more regulation should be placed on social media companies to remove fake news

They should be regulated but not specifically by the current ruling government.

No and yes. Social network sites need regulation around this issue, but a government is not the regulatory body for this task.

Yes, but the criteria for what is fake news needs to be regulated.

Yes, but only to a lesser degree

Not ban, but keep them on their toes to delete abusive / criminal / hate speech and any other content deemed inappropriate

Government shouldn't have control over social media sites, however they should put forward best management practices and guidelines for these sites to have unbiased algorithms and reduction of fake news.

People need to use their own intelligence and work out their own opinions and stances, and not be to taken in and reliant on social media. People have become lazy and believe too much of what they hear through social media.

Yes, but by a non-biased entity that will fact-check the data and provide true and accurate information.

They should be regulated by an independent authority

Very hard to answer... social media is never going to go away and we will believe what we want to hear and what we see for ourselves, it’s not up to any government to control our mind

No, but some sort of regulation is needed

People should just use reliable sourced

No, but people should be more educated on how to decipher fake news

i do not have enough information to give an informed answer

We should have a third party regulator

In theory yes, but having government regulate is a slippery slope.

Yes, but they should only be able to flag it as such, not ban it. And be transparent about their reasons for doing so with an explanation as to why. They should not have the power to delete it, such a power takes away freedom of speech