EC calls on online platforms to develop common code of practice to tackle ‘disinformation’

Online platforms have not done enough to tackle disinformation, the European Commission (EC) has said, as it calls for the creation of a code of practice to deal with fake news, misinformation, and illegal content online. 

The EC has proposed a series of measures on how to tackle disinformation online, such establishing an independent European network of fact checkers, and a secure online platform to support them, with cross-border data collection and analysis.  

It said that although disinformation is nothing new, the advent of modern technologies and social media sites has made it easier to “to disseminate disinformation on a scale and with speed and precision of targeting that is unprecedented”. 

It added that the recent Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandal, where London-based data mining firm Cambridge Analytica was sold uncontrolled access to user data that was used to influence US and UK voting, has shown “more is needed to secure resilient democratic processes”.

The EC said disinformation not only erodes trust, but “harms our democracies by hampering the ability of citizens to take informed decisions”.  

“Mass online disinformation campaigns are being widely used by a range of domestic and foreign actors to sow distrust and create societal tensions, with serious potential consequences for our security. The spread of disinformation also affects policy-making processes by skewing public opinion,” the EC said.

“Domestic and foreign actors can use disinformation to manipulate policy, societal debates and behaviour in areas such as climate change, migration, public security, health and finance. Disinformation can also diminish trust in science and empirical evidence.”

It added that online platforms, specially social media sites and search engines, “play a key role in the spread and amplification of online disinformation”.

The European commissioner for the security union, Julian King, said the “weaponisation of online fake news and disinformation poses a serious security threat to our societies”.

“The subversion of trusted channels to peddle pernicious and divisive content requires a clear-eyed response based on increased transparency, traceability and accountability. Internet platforms have a vital role to play in countering the abuse of their infrastructure by hostile actors and in keeping their users, and society, safe,” he added.