The European Commission on Wednesday rolled out a new strategy aimed at countering the spread of disinformation to protect democracy in the region. The plan will require online platforms and influencers to do more in this regard.
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The Commission, which is the executive branch of the European Union, on Wednesday adopted the European Democracy Shield (EUDS), which aims to protect the integrity of the information space, ensure free and fair elections and media, and boost media literacy, among other goals.
Under the strategy, the European watchdog plans to expand its measures, such as the voluntary Code of Conduct on Disinformation framework, to demonetize disinformation. Already, online platform operators such as Google (GOOGL), Meta (META), Microsoft (MSFT), and TikTok are signatories to the framework.
In addition to this, the Commission plans to launch an incident and crisis protocol under the bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA). The goal is to enable rapid responses to significant and cross-border risks affecting the integrity of information.
EU Wants More Efforts from Big Tech
Already, the DSA requires Big Tech companies, including Elon Musk’s X, to monitor and develop plans to reduce the risks of illegal or harmful content on their platforms. The regulator’s AI Act also requires social media platforms to clearly identify content generated by artificial intelligence, including deepfakes.
This is even as the Commission is reportedly preparing to extend content moderation rules to private messaging platform WhatsApp’s public-facing channel feature, which was introduced in September 2023.
At the same time, the EU executive branch has confirmed it is evaluating possible changes to some aspects of its AI Act to ease demands on Big Tech companies. However, media reports have suggested that changes to the bloc’s tech laws could be more far-reaching, extending to the benchmark privacy law, the General Data Protection Regulation.
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