Google, Twitter and Meta pledge to fight fake news

Google, Meta, Twitter and Microsoft agreed on Thursday to take a firm stance against disinformation as part of an amended European Union of conduct, which could result in large fines if they don’t. The new Code of Practice on Disinformation has more than 30 signatories, including advertising groups. They agreed to do more combat deep fakes, fake accounts and political advertising with fines of up to 6 per cent of a company’s global revenue, as per the European Commission, confirmed by a Reuters report last week. The firms including, Amazon’s live streaming, TikTok, and Twitch, have six months to meet their commitments. They must submit a progress report at the start of 2023, the Reuters report added.

Vera Jourova, Vice-President of the Commission said, "The new code is a testimony that Europe has learned its lessons and that we are not naive any longer." She further added that the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Brexit have expedited the Union’s fight against fake news.

According to Thierry Breton, industry chief of the European Union the sanctions could include barring companies from operating in Europe.

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The critics such as the Association of Commercial Television and Video on Demand and Video on Demand Services in Europe (ACT) pointed out some serious flaws in the updated code of the Union.

It stated, “The Review does not offer concrete commitments to limit 'impermissible manipulative behavior'. Commitments go no further than a blanket statement to follow the law which is obvious and does not require a Code.”

(With inputs from agencies)

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