Platforms must step up the fight against false accounts and bots and be more open to independent experts if they are to avoid binding measures to combat disinformation next year. This was suggested by Security Commissioner Julian King to members of the Civil Liberties Committee on Thursday, 12 September.
He was asked about two topics: progress in the fight against disinformation and the security situation of 5G networks in the EU. The European Commission has developed a series of initiatives on these two issues and is currently considering the need for legislation. It should take a decision in 2020.
Disinformation: still room for improvement
According to Commissioner King, the EU was not the victim of any “spectacular disinformation campaign” during the May elections. “This does not mean that the EU is a zone free of disinformation”, he repeated, however, taking this time the example of Germany, where one party alone represented 86% of the activities of all parties on Facebook, supported by 80,000 suspicious accounts that ‘liked’ and ‘shared’ this content, amplifying its impact.
Julian King highlighted a series of deadlines to take stock of EU action (see EUROPE 12010/5, 12094/6, 12153/8). He announced a report on the European elections in the autumn. He also informed that the code of good practice, adopted by representatives of platforms, advertising and civil society in September 2018, would be the subject of further evaluations (see EUROPE 12104/1). It will also be evaluated first by the signatories themselves in September this year and then by third parties in October. For its part, the Commission plans to publish a general overview before the end of October, followed by a communication detailing the way forward in 2020.
Asked by MEPs, Julian King encouraged the platforms to provide detailed information on both originators and recipients of fake news, to cooperate with fact checkers, and to provide access to data to the research community.
5G: no analysis aimed ‘specifically’ at Huawei
Commissioner King also reaffirmed the deadlines set by the March Recommendation on the security of 5G networks (see EUROPE 12270/5). He indicated that all Member States had submitted their national assessments and recalled that the Commission planned to submit a report on them in October. However, he refused to comment on the case of Huawei – blacklisted by the Americans, who accuse the Chinese equipment manufacturer of espionage – saying that the evaluation was ongoing. “A product, service or supplier may be risky at the end of the fiscal year. This applies to Huawei as well as to the others”, he said.
He referred to a series of measures under consideration in different Member States, which could be “discussed collectively”: the obligation of telecommunications operators to ensure the security of their network, prior authorisation for the deployment of certain types of network equipment, etc.
The issue of the risks that 5G technology could pose to internal security was also raised by several MEPs after the June report by the EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, Gilles de Kerchove, highlighting the barriers that encryption represents for legal wiretapping by law enforcement authorities (see EUROPE 12270/5). “We must support the police authorities. We cannot live in a world that would be opaque for them. But we must also recognise the importance of encryption. We need to find a way to continue to support authorised access without compromising the integrity of encryption systems. That's the challenge”, he said. According to him, the Commission is currently providing financial support to law enforcement agencies, including Europol, to develop their own understanding and technical expertise. It is also working with the international community on the issue of the type of standards for new technologies to prevent this. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)