Platform-Based Governance of Fake News in the Digital Information Ecosystem

Main Article Content

Geyu Deng
Independent researcher

Liang Li
Academy for the Foreign-Related Rule of Law, China University of Political Science and Law, Beijing, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.70267/icsscs.2026024861

Keywords

fake news, First Amendment, public harms, ex ante regulation, platform-based governance

Abstract

The rise of digital media has fundamentally transformed the production, dissemination, and consumption of news, enabling fake news to circulate at unprecedented speed and scale. In this platform-mediated information environment, fake news has become a structural phenomenon capable of generating systemic public harms across multiple domains, including democratic governance, public health, public safety, and economic stability. The existing ex post regulatory frameworks in the United States are ill-suited to address such harms, while constitutional constraints under the First Amendment significantly limit the feasibility of ex ante governmental regulations. This paper examines the regulatory challenges posed by fake news through a combination of conceptual reasoning and legal analysis. It identifies the systemic harms associated with fake news and analyzes the current public-private regulatory structure against the Constitution and judicial precedents. Building on the analysis, this paper proposes an editorial process-based labeling mechanism, centered on source transparency at the platform level, to regulate fake news. By shifting regulatory focus from content-based to process-based, the proposed mechanism offers a constitutionally compatible, scalable, and transparency-oriented solution for mitigating the harms of fake news in the digital ecosystems.

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Jul 7, 2026
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How to Cite

Deng, Geyu, and Liang Li. “Platform-Based Governance of Fake News in the Digital Information Ecosystem”. Exploring Science Academic Conference Series, vol. 26, July 2026, pp. 48-61, https://doi.org/10.70267/icsscs.2026024861.