Social-Media
Facebook , Twitter, Google, Fake News Battle, EU Says on Monthly Study
HIGHLIGHTS:
- Technology giants will announce their battle against counterfeit news
- The EU plans to combat foreign players through increased communication strategies
- TikTok joins the voluntary code of conduct of the block
Two top EU officials on Wednesday called on Russia and China for their role in spreading false news. Facebook, Google and Twitter were expected to deliver monthly reports on their battle against misinformation.
EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell and European Commission Vice-Chair Vera Jourova emphasize Block concerns about COVID-19 false reports, as well as the foreign players' attempts to manipulate Europe.
"It has shown that misinformation does not only harm our democracies' welfare, it also damages our people' health.
It can have a negative impact on the economy and undermine the public authority 's response and thus weaken medical measures, "said Jourova.
She said that vaccination was the next fake news item, citing a trial that showed that Germans have fallen 20 percentage points in two months ' time.
The Commission stated that online platforms should provide monthly reports on their actions in order to promote authoritative contents and limit coronavirus and related publicity.
Jourova also said that the Chinese video app, TikTok, operated by ByteDance, would join the volunteer code of conduct for countering counterfeit news on its website. Google, Facebook , Twitter and Mozilla are signatories of the code of conduct.
Borrell called the bogus news fight the warriors who wear keyboards instead of swords.
'Foreign stakeholders and certain third countries, notably Russia and China, have engaged in targeted EU, neighborhood and international impact and disinformation campaigns,' said the Commission.
By improving its communication policy and diplomacy, the EU Executive aims to combat international actors and provide more resources to free and unbiased media, fact-checkers and investigators.
