Comment on President Macron plans bill to counter fake news during French elections

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron came out strongly Wednesday in support of press freedom and announced a bill to combat the spread of fake news during election campaigns. In a speech to journalists at the Elysee Palace in Paris that laid out his agenda for 2018, Macron said that press freedom is “the highest expression of freedom.” He said he’s going soon to propose a new law to combat fake news on the internet during French election campaigns. “Journalists are the first threatened by propaganda,” he said. Websites would have to say who is financing them and the amount of money for sponsored content would be capped, he said.