For more than a year now we have been talking about fake news almost every day, invented to attract the attention of the readers with the sole purpose of increasing the number of visitors and generating advertising revenues.

The word fake news has been so far mostly used in politics. Some say that the first "fake news" were published in order to harm an induvidual or a political party. Today we are also talking about fake news in the terms gossip, news section, economic news.

A crucial role for the dissemination of false news have played (and continue to do so) the social media, which have easily made viral the news without the possibility that of an actual source check. Think just of the ease of use and the widespread dissemination of information by theplatforms such as Facebook, Twitter, or even the ease of creating websites and dynamic blogs through platforms such as WordPress.

To cope with this phenomenon, the major media platforms have announced huge technical and personnel investments aimed at repressing online disinformation: Facebook with the so-called fact checking to mark false stories, Twitter with the improvement of controls to oppose the proliferation of so-called "BOT" (software created to carry out automated activities on the web but sometimes used for illegal purposes such as, fake news, promotions of pedo-pornographic sites, hate speech) and Google with the use of better algorithms to monitor the activity on YouTube.

Among the legal consequences that may derive from the publication of fake news, we point out, for example, the case of defamation by the means of media outlets, referred to in the third paragraph of art. 595 of the Penal Code which states that "If the offense is brought by means of the press or by any other means of publicity, or in a public deed, the penalty is imprisonment from six months to three years or a fine of not less than five hundred and sixteen euro". Furthermore, it could occur as well the offence referred to in art. 656 of the penal code, which states that "Anyone who publishes or disseminates false, exaggerated or biased information, for which the public order can be disturbed, is punished, if the fact does not constitute a more serious offense, with the imprisonment for a period ofnot less then three months or with the fine up to 309 euros." In addition to the consequences that may arise in the area of criminal law, it is likely that the liability in the terms of civil law may arise as well: with the obligation to pay for compensatory damages.

However, today there is still no specific legislation to combat this phenomenon. There is only a law proposal, from February 2017, called "Provisions to prevent the manipulation of information online, ensure transparency on the web and encourage media literacy". The law proposal states that those who spread ‘’false, exaggerated or misleading information about data or facts that are demonstrably groundless or false’’ will be punished with a fine of up to five thousand euros, and when the news reports bear 'public alarm or harm to public interests' there is a penalty of imprisonment for a period of not less than 12 months and with a fine of up to € 5,000.00.

Anyone who spreads online ‘’campaigns of hatred against individuals or campaigns aimed at undermining the democratic process’’ will be punished with imprisonment of not less than two years and with a fine of up to € 10,000.00. The law proposal also provides, in order to increase transparency and counter anonymity, measures to make authors easily identifiable. When opening a platform for the broadcast of information, the administrator of the platform should, within fifteen days from the online broadcasting 'give appropriate communication, via certified email, to the Section for the press and information of the territorially competent court, transmitting the name and URL of the electronic platform ', as well as some personal data of the site administrator.

The European Commission, on the other hand, in order to protect freedom of information and at the same time of the media, will put a group of experts to work, whose task will be to help delimit the phenomenon and grasp its international dimension. This group of experts will consist of individuals from the academic world, the media, organizations from the information’s sector, civil society organizations, and will be operational from January 2018.

The main objective is to find the balance between freedom of expression, freedom of the media and the right of citizens to reliable information.

In the meantime, an online public consultation was launched (the results of which will be published in March) which will gather information on: the definition of false information and its online diffusion, the evaluation of the measures already adopted by the platforms, media and civil society organizations to counter the dissemination of false information online the space for future actions aimed at strengthening the quality of information and preventing the spread of online disinformation.

The public consultation is open to citizens, social media, the press, public authorities and researchers, called to give their opinion, with the aim of collecting ideas on the actions that the EU can take to offer citizens effective tools to identify information reliable and verified and adapt to the challenges of the digital age.

The work of the experts and the results of the public consultation, which will close on 23 February 2018, will contribute to the definition of an EU strategy to counter the dissemination of false news, to be presented in the spring of 2018.