The response of online platforms to disinformation linked to Covid-19 “has been good”, but improvements are still needed. That was the conclusion reached during a debate organised by Friends of Europe on Monday 4 May by Daniel Braun, Deputy Head of Cabinet for Věra Jourová, the Vice-President of the Commission responsible for Values and Transparency.
“We are in constant contact with the main platforms including Facebook and Twitter. And I have to say, they have been really reactive”, said Braun, adding that work to improve fact-checking in all member states would be continuing.
Juliane von Reppert-Bismarck, the founder of Lie Detectors, pointed out that the platforms carrying out this fact-checking work could not “have their eyes everywhere”.
Young people between the ages of 10 to 15 do not go on Facebook or Twitter to get their news, but “on Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok, and Twitch”, she added, emphasising that these platforms were “a long way from the areas being monitored by the ‘fact checkers’”.
In his reply to von Reppert-Bismarck, Braun brought up the possibility of assessing measures to deal with unmoderated platforms and confirmed that the Commission still intends to publish its Action Plan for Democracy (see EUROPE 12429/4) by the end of the year. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)