Meta is apparently doing too little to stem misinformation on the social platforms it owns, Facebook and Instagram. For this reason, the European Commission has therefore decided to launch a formal procedure to assess whether the company has violated the law on digital services (the Digital Service Act) on the protection of the integrity of the European elections, exposing citizens of the Old Continent to misleading advertisements. and misinformation. There are three aspects on which the Commission urgently requested a response from Meta: “Inadequate advertising moderation exploited for foreign interference and scams; inadequate access to data to monitor elections; non-compliant tool for reporting illegal content”.
The investigation in view of the European elections. Focus on possible Russian interference
The investigation is set to put pressure on Meta to do more ahead of elections to be held this summer in all 27 EU countries to elect new members of the European Parliament. The vote, which will be held June 6-9, is being closely watched for signs of foreign interference, particularly from Russia, which has sought to weaken European support for the war in Ukraine.
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The investigation into Meta marks an important step in the definition that the European Union wants to have in the fight against online disinformation. A more muscular approach than in the United States, where free speech and other legal protections limit the role the government can play in controlling online speech. The new European Union law, called the Digital Services Act, came into force last year (but fully applicable to online service providers only from 17 February 2024) and gives regulators broad authority to control Meta and other large online platforms on the content shared through their services.
“Large digital platforms must live up to their obligations and make sufficient resources available, and today’s decision shows that we are serious about meeting them,” Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said in a statement. executive branch of the EU.
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The fields of investigation: advertising, politicians and disinformation
In detail, as reported in these hours, the procedure opened by the European Commission will focus on three areas:
False advertising and misinformation. The Commission suspects that Meta does not comply with Dsa obligations relating to the dissemination of misleading advertising, disinformation campaigns and inauthentic behavior coordinated in the EU. The proliferation of such content may pose a risk to civic discourse, electoral processes and fundamental rights, as well as consumer protection;
Visibility of political content. The Commission suspects that the strategy of Meta linked to the “political content approach”, which downgrades political content in Instagram and Facebook’s recommendation systems, including their feeds, does not comply with DSA obligations. The investigation will focus on the compatibility of this policy with user transparency and redress obligations, as well as with risk assessment and mitigation requirements for civic discourse and electoral processes;
The unavailability of an effective third-party tool for real-time monitoring of civic discourse and elections in view of the upcoming European Parliament elections and other elections in various Member States. Meta is in the process of shelving “CrowdTangle”, a public insights tool that allows real-time monitoring of elections by researchers, journalists and civil society.
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