Pointers at Glance
- Major tech platforms have joined 34 signatories committing to the European Commission’s attempts to fight online disinformation.
- The commission now has very important commitments to reduce the impact of disinformation online and much more robust tools to measure how these are implemented across the EU in all countries and all its languages.
Following the guidance published in 2021, the European Commission has strengthened its code of practice on disinformation. It should be updated to consider events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s war with Ukraine.
The latest version builds on the original code of practice established in 2018, setting out several new commitments by both technology platforms and the broader industry to fight online disinformation better.
As a part of a press release announcing the new code of practice, Věra Jourová, vice president for values and transparency at the EU Commission, said that the commission now has very important commitments to reduce the impact of disinformation online and much more robust tools to measure how these are implemented across the EU in all countries and all its languages.
The code has been initially signed by 34 parties, including major social media platforms like Meta, Twitter, and TikTok, and tech giants like Adobe, Google, and Microsoft. Amazon was a remarkable absentee.
Through the Digital Services Act, a piece of EU legislation approved in April 2022, the code will be enforced to better protect European users from online disinformation and illegal content, goods, and services.
In a statement, Thierry Breton, commissioner for the internal market at the EU Commission, said that spreading disinformation should never be financially viable and that online platforms needed to be stronger when tackling the problem, especially on the issue of funding. He also mentioned, “Very huge platforms that constantly break the code and do not carry out threat mitigation measures properly risk fines of up to 6% of their global turnover”.
