Social media platforms today presented their efforts to tackle disinformation before EU elections - but failed to provide pivotal data points requested by the Commission that would indicate whether their steps are effective in tackling this problem.

Avaaz is therefore calling on the EU to pressure platforms to scale up their response to disinformation, highlighting the need to “correct the record”, by working with with independent fact-checkers and providing fact-checked corrections to ALL users targeted by disinformation.

Christoph Schott, Campaign Director at Avaaz, said: 
“Democracy dies with viral lies. But there’s a straightforward solution to protect us: Make platforms responsible for issuing independently fact-checked corrections with the same reach and prominence as the original fake news. Newspapers do it, TV stations do it, social media should do it, too. And it’s on the EU to pressure the platforms to adopt this simple idea.” 

“Correcting the record” means that users who have been targeted by disinformation are quickly alerted, and that corrections from Europe’s independent fact-checkers are delivered to users with the same reach and prominence as the disinformation content that targeted them. No deletion of false information, but actually providing more information on the matter concerned. Research shows that when done well, corrections not only work but, as the EU itself recognizes , can help make societies more resilient to threats to democracy. Worries about a so-called “backfire” effect have been disproved.

As far as Avaaz is aware, the reports submitted by Facebook, Google, and other platforms failed at providing data on the number of fake accounts in EU member states, and the number of content pieces flagged as disinformation on their platforms - making it difficult to measure whether their initiatives are having any impact. Commissioner Gabriel is right to say that their reports have weaknesses, and if action is not taken fast European elections will be flooded with disinformation.

Avaaz is gearing up to fight disinformation ahead of the EU elections, building a team of investigative journalists, data analysts, legal specialists, and thousands of volunteers to detect disinformation and counter it. This comes on the back of successfully taking down one of the biggest disinformation networks in Brazil with over 12.6 million followers .  A poll commissioned by Avaaz showed that 89.77% of Bolsonaro voters believed at least one or more of the most toxic fake news about his opponent, including that voting machines have been rigged and Haddad circulated “gay kits” at schools.


Christoph Schott adds: “Europe is on fire, and social media platforms bring water pistols to fight the flames. Today’s reports show us once more that Facebook and Co think this is just a PR stunt, and their measures will not prevent lies and hate from going viral. Our democracies are being burned down by hate and lies - and it’s now on‪ the EU Commission to do what they’ve threatened for a year: Legislate. They have 4 months to do it.“ 

Background:
The EU’s Action Plan Against Disinformation recommended that platforms “cooperate with independent fact-checkers to detect and flag disinformation campaigns and to make fact-checked content more visible and widespread".  EU Commissioner for the Security Union, Julian King also endorsed this saying , “We need to see rapid corrections which are given the same prominence and circulation as the fake news.” And a European Parliament resolution calls for the same. As far as Avaaz is aware of the reports issued by the platforms, they do not live up to any of these thresholds.

Avaaz is of the opinion that the lack of tangible results and transparency in today’s reports means that the vast majority of European citizens remain exposed to lies and fake news, creating a massive threat to the EU elections in May 2019. 

Avaaz has been at the forefront of the campaign against the rise of disinformation on social media. Over 1 million Avaaz members called on the CEOs of Facebook and Whatsapp to fix their platforms; we launched ‘Fake Zuckerberg armies’ in Washington and Brussels ; and consulted with governments and legislatures to advance policy development on the issue across the globe.

Contact: Julie Deruy +336 76 47 72 59, julie@avaaz.org