Latest news with #CodeofPracticeonDisinformation
Euronews
2 days ago
- Business
- Euronews
Big Tech isn't doing enough to fight disinformation, EU body says
Google, Meta, Microsoft, and TikTok aren't doing enough under EU laws to fight disinformation, a new report found. The European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) assessed the period from January to June 2024 on how these tech giants met the eight core commitments of the EU's Code of Practice on Disinformation, a voluntary document signed in 2018 that will be integrated into the Digital Services Act (DSA) on July 1st. The group found there is a 'clear gap' between the platforms' commitments under the code of practice and the verifiable evidence of their implementation. 'The assessment identifies consistent gaps in transparency, independent oversight and measurable outcomes across all commitments,' the report reads, adding that the code 'risks remaining performative' if the companies do not step up. The pledges in the code include avoiding advertisements next to disinformation, efficiently labelling misleading or fake information, and providing researchers with data about their platforms. Efforts to fight disinformation 'remain very limited' The study looked at whether the platforms' transparency reports had 'comprehensive and detailed accounts' of how they mitigated disinformation and then rated them on a scale from very poor to excellent. Overall, the report found that the efforts to fight disinformation 'remain very limited, lacking consistency and meaningful engagement'. The study said that while Meta and Google launched some initiatives to fight off disinformation, they are frequently criticised 'for being superficial or symbolic'. For example, the report found that accessing tools like Google and Meta's political ad and fact-checking labels, along with Microsoft's 'Content Integrity Tools,' is still an issue, compounded by what they call a 'lack of data' about how many users interact with them by country. 'There are no user engagement figures, no reported outcomes, and no indication of the actual scale of these efforts,' the report said. The same issue comes up when evaluating the platform's commitments to media literacy. Projects such as Meta's 'We Think Digital,' a Microsoft partnership with news rating system NewsGuard, and Google's pre-bunking 'More About This Page' are 'high-level' initiatives without measurable data. The researchers said these measures raised doubts about whether they are just 'declarative gestures'. Meta, Google and TikTok also offer fact-checking panels, user prompts, notifications or labels that explain how information could be factually incorrect or misleading but the companies do not include any real-life data on how they perform. Google, in particular, reports 'large-scale reach figures' for their fact-checking panels but does not provide 'meaningful data' such as how user behaviour changed after seeing it. When it came to providing researchers with data to study disinformation on big platforms, only TikTok received a passing grade. Still, researchers surveyed by the EDMO reported difficulties getting data from the platform's Research API database because of its 'opaque application process'. The other platforms provide access to 'certain datasets' through researcher programmes but getting access to them is still 'highly restricted,' the authors note. EDMO used the companies' twice-yearly transparency reports coming from the online platforms, an expert survey and their own internal research to come up with their analysis of compliance.
Euronews
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Misinformation buffets Portugal ahead of snap elections
ADVERTISEMENT As Portugal gears up for snap legislative elections scheduled for 18 May, it is witnessing an uptick in misleading claims by politicians and social media users alike. Some relate to the amount of support each political party is getting, such as a post on X by André Ventura, leader of the far-right party Chega. He says that social media polls put his party as most likely to come out on top in May, roughly five points ahead on the centre-right AD alliance led by the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and nine points ahead of the Socialist Party. "Social media doesn't lie," Ventura says in the post. It's unclear exactly what the source for the poll is, but regardless, social media surveys are notoriously unreliable. More reputable polling from various credible companies puts AD at about 30%, the Socialist Party in the high 20s, and then Chega in third place with around 15%. Nevertheless, Chega has indeed attracted enough support to become a solid political force in Portugal in recent years. The polls show that Chega has consistently grown since the turn of the decade, and last year's vote saw the party surge into third place, becoming the best-performing third-place party in recent years. Ventura claimed in a recent televised debate that the Social Democratic Party, the Socialist Party and Chega came "historically close" to each other in the 2024 elections. Chega hopes to do even better in this year's snap election, which follow the collapse of Prime Minister Luís Montenegro's centre-right minority government in March. That government, formed by the AD alliance between the PSD and the CDS People's Party, lost a parliamentary confidence vote amid a scandal involving Montenegro's family consultancy firm, Spinumviva, which received payments from companies with government concessions. Montenegro has denied any wrongdoing, yet the controversy eroded his political support, leading to the government's fall. May's vote marks Portugal's third national election in three years, reflecting ongoing political instability and public frustration with the traditional parties. Combating election misinformation Regardless, with the 2025 elections on the horizon, Portugal is preparing for a deluge of misinformation linked to the vote by setting up a rapid response system to report dubious claims. According to local reports, a similar system has already been used in countries across Europe, allowing organisations to quickly flag urgent content or trends that could threaten election integrity and discuss them with platforms based on their policies. The rapid response system, under the EU's Code of Practice on Disinformation, was used in last year's European elections and issued 18 notifications in the campaign before the vote, according to the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) . It said that the notifications were addressed to different social media platforms: seven to Meta, six to YouTube, and five to TikTok, which gave feedback for all 18 notifications. ADVERTISEMENT As a result of the rapid response system's efforts, there were 12 instances of content or accounts being removed or banned, either partially or entirely. One of the most common targets for misinformation when election time rolls around is the issue of immigration. EuroVerify has also already previously debunked immigration misinformation in Portugal, specifically misleading claims by Ventura that 20% of Portugal's current prisoners are foreigners. However, statistics by Portugal's internal security agency for the year 2023 showed that the vast majority of the country's prisoners are Portuguese (83.3%) and that foreigners accounted for 16.7%. ADVERTISEMENT Ventura has more recently taken to X to once again claim there's a link between immigration and crime. He said that Portugal "imports criminals and still pays them subsidies", criticising migrants' access to benefits in the process. Related Portugal set to hold early election in May after minority government collapses Social media video showing alleged rape of 16-year-old girl sparks backlash in Portugal Firstly, it's worth noting that Ventura is referring to the Santa Casa da Misericórdia, a historic Portuguese charity founded more than 500 years ago that runs hospitals, supports the poor and manages the national lottery (using the money to fund social programmes), among other initiatives. While it's technically private, it's supervised by the government and helps carry out social welfare policies, and is funded through a mix of public revenue, business activities and donations, but its main source of funding is the national lottery system. Putting Santa Casa aside and looking at the wider benefits system, in addition to the statistics from the internal security agency, Portuguese law says that immigrants qualify for social benefits only after fulfilling certain requirements. ADVERTISEMENT Related Portugal set to hold early election in May after minority government collapses For example, Portugal's social integration income benefit is designed only for those in extreme poverty. They must have had legal residence for at least one year, have an income below the national threshold (€242.23) and must take part in an integration programme. Therefore, it's disingenuous to suggest that Portugal imports and immediately "subsidises" criminals.
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
EU's Disinformation Code moves closer to becoming DSA benchmark
Staying on the right side of the European Union's online rulebook when it comes to the slippery topic of disinformation is set to get easier for platforms that commit to the bloc's long-standing Code of Practice on Disinformation. You know, the voluntary Code that Elon Musk pulled X (formerly Twitter) out of back in 2023. The EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) demands that such platforms take steps to mitigate such systemic risks. But one question is what kind of steps exactly? The Code provides a template to follow in this area -- committing signatories to actions such as cutting financial incentives for purveyors of disinformation; focusing on service integrity (i.e., rooting out bots, fake accounts, etc.); and supporting fact checking. On Thursday, the Commission and other DSA regulators moved closer to formally integrating the Code into the DSA's legally binding framework -- by delivering official endorsements of the step. While Musk's X has made its entrenched opposition to the EU's approach to online governance crystal clear, there are other worrying signs for the bloc. To wit: Meta recently dropped its own commitment to fact-checking. And yet, it remains on the list of Code signatories — at least for now — which looks awkward to say the least. The Code's DSA conversion will take effect from July 1, 2025 -- which is when the Commission states that these commitments will be "auditable." So any disinformation showdown isn't likely for a few months -- or, well, unless the bloc pulls its finger out and completes a DSA investigation of X ongoing since December 2023. Sign in to access your portfolio
