October 30, 2019
Facebook , Google and Twitter need to do
more to deal with fake news or otherwise will face regulatory action, the
European Commission announced on Tuesday.
The threat from the EC
comes about a year after the three US tech giants, along with companies
such as Mozilla, Microsoft and seven other European representatives,
signed a voluntary code to combat fake news.
As foreseen in the December 2018 Action Plan, the Commission is now carrying out its comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness of the Code of Practice against disinformation,
In addition to the self-assessments by the signatories, the Commission will take into account:
- Input from the European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Services (ERGA),
- An evaluation from a third party organisation selected by the signatories to the Code,
- An assessment from an independent consultant engaged by the Commission.
- A report on the 2019 elections to the European Parliament.
However, the European Commission is now drafting regulations known as the Digital Services Act. This will set the rules for the responsibility and security of digital platforms, services and products - a move that has already raised fears in the technology industry for quite serious external intervention.
Last month's companies report revealed a wide discrepancy between them and provided little detail about the impact of the measures they took.
EU Justice Commissioner Vera Yourova, EU Security Chief Julian King and EU Digital Rights Commissioner Maria Gabriel said in a joint statement:
Extensive automated propaganda and misinformation continues, and there is more work to be done in all areas of the agreed code. We cannot accept this as the new normal.
Top European officials also called on companies to cooperate with more independent bodies.
An independent consultant hired by the Commission will publish its assessment early next year, followed by its own EC study.
Summary of the self-assessment reports: HERE
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