The European Commission is not missing an opportunity to communicate on the new code of good practice to combat online misinformation. After the presentation of the draft code in July and the final document in September, came the presentation of the online platform road maps on Tuesday 16 October. Strangely, it seems that Twitter has chosen to exclude certain commitments.
What's new? Individual commitments
As a reminder, the code of good practice was drafted by a multi-stakeholder group composed of platforms and advertisers, on the one hand, and a think tank formed by representatives of the press, broadcasters and the academic world, on the other. It defines 15 non-binding commitments in areas such as political advertising or advertising placement (see EUROPE 12064, 12104).
This Tuesday, October 16, marks the official adoption of the Code of Best Practices by digital platforms (Google, Facebook, Mozilla and Twitter) and professional associations (EACA, EDIMA, IAB Europe, UBA and WFA). Each platform has also individually published a list of good practices to be added to the annex of the code, a roadmap for the implementation of the code and specific concrete actions for the European elections. These initiatives include the adoption of transparency tools for political advertising, the establishment of training for political groups and electoral authorities, the strengthening of cooperation with fact checkers, etc.
Strangely, Twitter did not tick commitments 1 (b) and (d) (third-party auditors and product placement), as well as commitments 7 (development of trust indicators) and 8 (giving priority to reliable content in feeds).
The think tank is still unsatisfied
At a press conference, Ravi Vatrapu reiterated the think tank's view that the code of practice lacked common and measurable commitments. He pointed out that the individual road maps do not change the fact that the code of practice is not satisfactory. To which the Commissioner for the Digital Society and Economy, Mariya Gabriel, replied: "I take note of the think tank's opinion, but let's not forget that the code of good practice includes a wide variety of signatories; each provides different services using different technologies and to different audiences", she said.
In any case, the Commission should make an initial assessment of the situation " before the end of the year". An updated timetable of the Commission’s work programme shows the publication of an action plan on misinformation set for 5 December. Drafted with the European External Action Service, this plan will focus on the external dimension of misinformation and will provide an initial overview of the code of good practice in its annexes.
"You have to give time. [...] The Commission reserves the right to make other proposals, including regulatory proposals. If there is a regulatory proposal, it will be targeted, with full knowledge of the facts. Hence the need to go through this stage", concluded Mariya Gabriel. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)