The European Commission is calling Meta, TikTok and YouTube to account over their measures against fake news about the conflict between Israel and Hamas. This is to check the social media platforms’ compliance with the Digital Services Act.
Responsible Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton recently asked several social media platforms to clarify the extent to which they combat fake news. For Google’s Meta, TikTok and YouTube, the euro commissioner already sought clarification from X (Twitter).
In the case of fake news surrounding the recent conflict in the Middle East, the euro commissioner especially wants the social media platforms to have an eye for the many sensitivities and act on them with the necessary wisdom, especially when it comes to countering the spread of horrific images.
Check Digital Services Act
With its questions to social media platforms, the EU wants to check whether the recently enacted Digital Services Act is already working. Especially the spread of fake news is a thorn in the EC’s side. The recent elections in Slovakia were already a first test for the new EU legislation in the eyes of Thierry Breton.
The platforms in question must answer the EC’s questions very quickly, writes news agency AP. Should they fail to comply with the EC’s questions and requirements, the EC can conduct follow-up investigations and impose fines. These fines can amount to 6 percent of global turnover.
Reaction social media platforms
Meta has previously indicated that it has processes in place to (combat) fake news for appropriate action in such conflicts.
TikTok recently indicated that it is conducting heightened monitoring in response to the conflict. This includes language moderators, a security center and automatic detection systems.
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