Where lies live: Freedom of expression and information in times of hate and hyperinformation

Abstract

Abstract: Lying may be a human privilege but it has limits; so do freedom of expression and information. What those limits are, how they are defined, their purposes and the extent to which it is legitimate to restrict these freedoms are questions that democracies must answer. Truth's fragility is the product not only of lies, but of the impossibility of its knowledge. The progressive democratisation of knowledge, not only of information, is therefore one of the ways to detect lies. From the perspective of the Spanish constitution (SC) and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), this paper analyses whether lying, as the exercise of freedom of expression and information, has a legitimate place in public debate in a democratic system.