organizations representing broadcasters, publishers and journalists have called for Monday, June 15, 2020 to the european Commission, “stronger measures” in the face of internet platforms (Google, Facebook…) to combat the misinformation. This ” joint declaration “, signed in particular by the european Federation of journalists, the european publishers Council and the Association of commercial Television in europe (ACT), is published after the presentation Wednesday by the Brussels new measures against the misinformation, prompted by the pandemic of Covid-19.
The signatories say they are “alarmed by the increase of the misinformation online for the pandemic,” who has had ” a devastating impact on the efforts of public health “. They consider that the “code of good practice” european, signed in 2018 by the internet platforms, ” has proven inadequate to treat the source and the motors of the misinformation spread online “. “There is an urgent need to have effective tools to better assess and treat the problem successfully,” they write, suggesting that ” Europe depends too much on the good will of the actors systemic “.
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Among the “much more stringent” claimed, figure “a regime of sanctions” to ensure that ” the co-signers of the code of good practices should be encouraged to act “. These measures must ” stimulate rather than to penalize the media “, that is to say that they ” must ensure journalistic freedom, the fundamental rights and editorial freedom “. Finally, they asked that the dialogue with the platforms is carried out in a more ” structured “, so that” a number of commissioners ” deals directly with the platforms.
“Huge wave of disinformation”
The EU last week called on the giants of the net to do more to combat the” huge wave of misinformation ” caused by the pandemic, by publishing a monthly report on the actions implemented. These reports should focus on the nature of the misinformation, the size of the network involved, the origin of geopolitics and the target audience, had explained the vice-president of the Commission on values and transparency, Vera Jourova.
The approach relies on the good will of the platforms, but it is it in their interest to raise the “confidence” of their users. The pandemic has already led the EU to ask the platforms to put forward the information of health authorities such as WHO, and to remove advertisements for fake drugs including.
