Twitter, Google’s YouTube, Meta Platform’s Facebook, Microsoft’s LinkedIn and TikTok are not doing enough to remove fake news from their platforms, raising doubts about their ability to comply with new EU online content rules, activist NGO Avaaz said on Tuesday.
The companies are due to present reports this week on the measures they have taken to comply with the updated EU code of practice on disinformation which is linked to the online content rules known as the Digital Services Act (DSA) that came into force last November, Reuters reported from Brussels.
Avaaz said it analysed a sample pool of 108 fact-checked pieces of content related to a 2022 American anti-vaccine film and found efforts by the social media platforms including Meta’s Instagram to remove disinformation fell short.
“Overall, just 22 percent of disinformation content we analysed was either labelled or removed by the six major platforms,” Avaaz said.
It said the companies did not do enough to tackle disinformation in languages other than English.
“Despite explicit platform commitments in the code to improve their services in all EU languages, our research found that in certain EU languages – Italian, German, Hungarian, Danish, Spanish and Estonian – no platform took any action against violating posts,” Avaaz said.
“This study suggests that most of the major platforms are failing to comply with their Code of Practice commitments and might infringe upcoming DSA obligations,” the group said.
Meta, Alphabet, Twitter and Microsoft last year vowed to take a tougher line against disinformation after committing to the updated EU code.
Companies face fines up to 6 percent of their global turnover for DSA violations.
ICC warns Pak Cricket Board of legal action against it by JioStar
Dream Sports firm FanCode bags ISL global broadcast rights
Guest Column: Budget’s policy interventions to boost Orange Economy
Delhi HC cracks down on illegal streaming during ICC U-19, Men’s T20 World Cups
Fourth Dimension Media Solutions marks 15 years of industry leadership
Barun Sobti to headline Onir’s upcoming film ‘Tumhari Khushboo’
Ananya Birla forays into cinema with launch of Birla Studios
Travelxp launches HD/4K on Makedonski Telekom in Balkans
India Today Group named exclusive media partner for WGS Dubai 

