European Parliament demands Facebook acts against disinformation ahead of EU elections
*Resolution calls on social media to correct disinformation, delete fake accounts and submit to new regulation to protect European democracies*
Facebook and other social media should correct disinformation, remove fake accounts fast, label bot content and submit to new regulation to protect Europe’s democracy from disinformation ahead of EU elections next year, the European Parliament has said, in a new resolution passed today.
Amid concerns that the EU will be targeted with a wave of disinformation ahead of the 2019 elections, the resolution also calls on the European Commission to do more to protect democracies, including passing regulation to hold social media accountable.
Key calls from the resolution, which is linked the below, include:
Amid concerns that the EU will be targeted with a wave of disinformation ahead of the 2019 elections, the resolution also calls on the European Commission to do more to protect democracies, including passing regulation to hold social media accountable.
Key calls from the resolution, which is linked the below, include:
- Calling on social media to inform users about disinformation, and offer corrections when available;
- Urging social media to speed up removal of fake accounts and label content shared by bots;
- Stressing that the new role social media takes should be reflected in regulation;
- Encouraging member states to conduct investigations into foreign interference;
- Urging Facebook to allow a full and independent audit of its platform.
Christoph Schott, Campaign Director at Avaaz, said: “A tidal wave of disinformation is threatening to sweep across Europe ahead of next year’s elections aimed at destabilising our democracies. The European Parliament clearly recognises the threat, and is demanding social media platforms use their reach to correct the record when disinformation spreads widely. How the Commission and Facebook respond could decide the future of Europe."
Following the Cambridge Analytica data scandal, social media platforms in Europe agreed a ‘code of practice’ against disinformation, which Security Commissioner Julian King said was a ‘good start’ but “needs to go much further, much faster”. Avaaz is calling on the Commission to use the Parliament resolution as a guide for how to interpret the Code of Practice ahead of next years’ elections.
Avaaz has made the fight against disinformation a major focus, with more than 1 million people joining a global open letter to Mark Zuckerberg and governments to protect our democracies. In Brazil, Avaaz has been fundamental in monitoring and investigating disinformation networks online, leading to the exposure of the biggest pro-Bolsonaro fake news network on Facebook.
After consulting with experts, lawmakers, and social media executives, Avaaz CEO Ricken Patel presented a series of recommendations to protect the European democracies at the Conference on ‘Election Interference in the Digital Age’ in Brussels earlier this month.
The resolution voted today can be found here, with amendments linked on top of the page.
CONTACTS - Julie Deruy +33 6 76 47 72 59, julie@avaaz.org