The European Commission published, on Tuesday 26 March, a document setting out the main risk mitigation guidelines for digital platforms in the run-up to the European elections.
Using the Digital Services Act (DSA) (see EUROPE 13352/7) as a legislative basis, the Commission wants to push the VLOPs (‘Very Large Online Platforms’, such as X, Facebook, Google or TikTok) to put in place a whole series of measures to counter the proliferation of dangerous or erroneous content during the forthcoming election period.
These guidelines are recommendations divided into three main areas, but the Commission was keen to point out that these platforms “have obligations under the DSA” and that it would not hesitate to use the legislative arsenal conferred on it by the DSA to ensure that the measures taken by the platforms are in line with EU expectations.
In the document published on Tuesday, the Commission therefore encourages the largest web platforms to strengthen their internal processes and set up teams to focus on “risks specific to the local context”.
As each type of election is different from one country to another, the Commission stresses the importance for platforms to have moderators with “in-depth knowledge” of national specificities.
Platforms are encouraged to implement “election-specific risk mitigation measures”, including mechanisms for responding to detected incidents in order to minimise their impact.
Disinformation, deep fakes, generative AI and foreign interference are all dangers that VLOPs must take into account.
The Commission does not specify the ideal or required number of moderators per platform, preferring to speak of “case by case, depending on the situation”, but stresses the importance of their qualifications, starting with a command of the language of the country in which they are working.
A test is due to be carried out in mid-April, the specifics of which are still being finalised. It will be open to all platforms and will make it possible to anticipate their state of preparation, two months before the European elections.
“The elections will be a test, not for the DSA, but for the platforms themselves”, explains a senior Commission official. “Several of our allies, starting with the United States, will be watching very closely what we put in place to secure our digital space”.
At this stage, only sixteen EU countries have already appointed their national coordinators to help the Commission identify and assess risks in the context of the regulations (see EUROPE 13317/10).
In February, the DSA rapporteur in the European Parliament, Christel Schaldemose (S&D, Danish), called on the Commission “not to let Putin’s trolls steal votes” in the elections (see EUROPE 13346/17).
More recently, the Commission requested additional information from eight digital platforms on the subject of generative AI, which it considers to be conducive to large-scale manipulation of elections (see EUROPE 13371/25).
To see the Commission’s document: https://aeur.eu/f/bip (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)