On Tuesday September 26, Brussels was concerned about the rate of misinformation on the social network X (formerly Twitter). The European Commission is calling on all major platforms to better combat Russian manipulation, fearing that it will intensify before the European elections.
The Vice-President of the Commission, Vera Jourova, highlighted X’s poor test results during a press conference. It featured reports provided by major online platforms outlining their efforts against disinformation over a six-month period, under the European Union (EU) Code of Practice.
This code, launched in 2018, brings together 44 voluntary signatories, giants like Meta (Facebook, WhatsApp), Google (YouTube) or TikTok, but also smaller platforms, as well as advertising professionals and fact-checkers. and NGOs.
To measure online disinformation, the signatories created indicators and launched a test phase in three member states (Spain, Poland and Slovakia). The test shows that platform X, which left the code of best practices in May, is the one showing “the highest rate of false information and disinformation in its publications”underlined Vera Jourova.
“You must respect the law, we will watch what you do”
The owner of the social network, Elon Musk, “knows he is not out of the woods just because he left the code of practice”she said. “You must respect the law, we will watch what you do”, she told him during the press conference, referring to the new regulations on digital services (Digital Services Act, DSA). It forces platforms to make efforts against disinformation under penalty of fines of up to 6% of their global turnover.
The European Commission also published on Tuesday a database on the transparency of online content moderation decisions. According to the Commission press release, “From February 17, 2024, all online platform providers, except micro and small businesses, will be required to submit data on their content moderation decisions. Currently, only very large platforms are required to do this. »
During the press conference, Mr.me Jourova also asked all platforms to intensify the fight against Russian disinformation, before the national elections in Slovakia and Poland, as well as in the run-up to the European elections next June. “The Russian state has engaged in a war of ideas to pollute our information space with half-truths and lies to make people believe that democracy is no better than autocracy”she warned.
Among the content removed by the platforms, the “Russian narrative” is “very dominant”
In its report, Google highlighted that its video sharing platform YouTube had deactivated 400 channels involved in influence operations linked to the Russian state from January to April. Meta, for its part, reported expanding its fact-checking partnerships to 26 partners to cover 22 EU languages, now including Czech and Slovak. And the TikTok network announced that it had verified 832 videos related to the war in Ukraine, which led to the removal of 211 of them.
Among the content removed by the platforms, the “Russian narrative” East “very dominant”, explained Vera Jourova. A lot of false information also attacks migrants, the ecological transition of the European Union or sexual minorities (LGBT, etc.), she said.