A senior EU official urged online platforms such as Google and Facebook to step up the fight against fake news, in particular from countries such as China and Russia.
She also praised Twitter's approach for fact-checking US President Donald Trump's tweet, AP reported.
Having unveiled the COVID-19-related disinformation plan, European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova said she wants technology companies to submit detailed monthly reports on the actions they take to prevent fake news.
The EU Commission noted that “foreign actors and certain third countries, in particular Russia and China" are overflowing Europe with “targeted influence operations and disinformation campaigns.”
Jourova praised those online companies that have signed a voluntary code to stop the spread of fake news on the coronavirus, but said this is only the first step and that “there is room for improvement.”
“They have to open up and offer more evidence that the measures they have taken are working well. They also have to enable the public to identify new threats independently. We invite them now to provide monthly reports with more granular information than ever before,” she noted.
She rejected the suggestion that the EC plans to regulate the misinformation itself: “I don’t want to create a ministry of truth.”
“I support the Twitter reaction to tweets of President Trump,” Jourova told reporters as well. “They did not delete it. We all can see it. They provided fact checked information and promoted facts.”
Large US technology companies said they support the new EU plans.
“We share the European Commission’s goal of reducing misinformation about COVID-19,” Facebook said in a statement. The company noted its efforts on fact-checking, labelling content and “removing hundreds of thousands of pieces of misinformation about the virus that could lead to imminent physical harm.”
Twitter has been “engaging with the European Commission, as well as industry partners, civil society and the research community, since February specifically on COVID-19,” said Sinead McSweeney, its vice president of public policy
Google said it has partnered with Jourova and the national authorities and is seeking to find “new and creative ways to continue the fight against disinformation.”
