Senedd members have been taking evidence about proposals to ban lying politicians, with experts warning that misleading the public can have catastrophic consequences.
The standards committee heard from academics following a Welsh Government promise to bring forward a law by 2026 to disqualify politicians found guilty of deliberate deception.
Andrew Blick, director of the Constitution Society, an educational charity, said misleading the public is as old as politics but the nature of the problem has morphed due to technology.
He raised the example of misinformation proliferating online fuelling riots in the UK over the summer, saying it showed how misleading the public can have catastrophic consequences.
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Prof Blick said: “I think we are seeing a movement towards harder regulation.”
Giving evidence on 4 November he described the proposals as “path breaking” in the UK.
“We welcome the fact that this subject’s being taken seriously,” he said.
“The misleading of the public is clearly a problem constitutionally and democratically.”
Commitee chair Hannah Blythyn questioned whether deception would be best dealt with by creating an offence or strengthening existing arrangements.
Dexter Govan, director of research at the Constitution Society, suggested a criminal offence could act as a deterrent but cautioned against overly severe penalties.