Freedom of the press or hate speech? Regulating media outlets in the post-truth era

Freedom of the press is a crucial element for the existence of modern democracy. A state can only be considered democratic if its citizens have unrestricted access, with exceptions as provided by law, to information of public
interest (Briggs & Burke, 2006). Thus, media outlets
perform the dual function of keeping citizens informed,
providing the basis for politicizing public opinion, and
monitoring the actions of governments while revealing
injustices obscured by other social forces (Correia, 2011;
Sousa, 2010).
Well-informed citizens also play a crucial role as active
members of the community. With a high level of media
literacy, individuals are theoretically better equipped to
participate in the public sphere (Livingstone, 2003). In
this context, the importance of media outlets lies in their
ability to exercise critical oversight of the three branches of the nation-state (the executive, the legislative,
and the judicial) and to provide citizens with accurate information about society (Bobbio, Matteucci, & Pasquino,
1983). T