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The Financial Times (FT) reported Meta, Twitter, Google, Microsoft, and TikTok are all planning to sign a revamped version of the EU’s ‘anti-disinformation code.’
The updated code in Europe aims to enhance detection and reaction across the tech giants, adding the application of new standards and penalties in dealing with misinformation.
The push comes amid continuous debate over the impact of misinformation published online and the role that social media, in particular, plays in the dissemination of false narratives.
According to the FT, the amended “code of practice on misinformation” will require digital platforms to reveal how they remove, restrict, or limit harmful content in advertising and content promotion.
“Online platforms will have to counter “harmful disinformation” by developing tools and partnerships with fact-checkers that may include taking down propaganda, but also the inclusion of “indicators of trustworthiness” on independently verified information on issues like the war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Read also: Tech giants’ 2021 misinformation transparency reports (commsroom.co)
The law would likewise push for creating a new body to set rules around what constitutes “misinformation” in this context, potentially removing some of the burdens from the platforms themselves.
Furthermore, rather than sharing worldwide or European-wide data on such activities, the code would compel platforms to publish a country-by-country analysis of their efforts.
The new rules will eventually be put into the EU’s Digital Services Act, requiring platforms to take appropriate steps or face fines of up to 6% of their global sales.
Similar recommendations have already been made in other regions, with the Australian, Canadian, and United Kingdom governments attempting to enact new legislation to force big companies to take action to curb the spread of fake news.
Australia’s DIGI Code, which has obliged tech giants to submit annual misinformation transparency reports, is currently under review.
Jaw de Guzman is the content producer for Comms Room, a knowledge platform and website aimed at assisting the communications industry and its professionals.
