Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Google and others agree to new EU rules to fight disinformation - The Verge
The EU has issued a new "code of practice on disinformation," forcing big tech platforms to do more to tackle propaganda and fake news. Signatories include Facebook-owner Meta, Twitter, Microsoft, Google, Twitch, and TikTok.
Tech companies operating some of the world’s biggest online platforms — including Facebook-owner Meta, Microsoft, Google, Twitter, Twitch, and TikTok — have signed up to a new EU rulebook for tackling online disinformation.
These firms and others will have to make greater efforts to halt the spread of fake news and propaganda on their platforms, as well as share more granular data on their work with EU member states. Announcing the new “Code of Practice on disinformation,” the European Commission said that the guidelines had been shaped particularly by “lessons learnt from the COVID19 crisis and Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine.”
“This new anti-disinformation Code comes at a time when Russia is weaponising disinformation as part of its military aggression against Ukraine, but also when we see attacks on democracy more broadly,” said the Commission’s vice president for values and transparency, Věra Jourová, in a press statement.
The code itself contains 44 specific “commitments” for companies that target an array of potential harms from disinformation. These include commitments to:
Many US tech firms like Facebook and Twitter have already adopted similar initiatives following pressure from politicians and regulators, but the EU claims its new code of practice will allow for greater oversight into these operations and stronger enforcement.
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