In an open letter to the European Commission published on Tuesday 21 January, two journalists’ associations - Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) - call for immediate action against Meta and Google in response to their shutting down of their fact-checking programmes.
Meta has announced the closure of its verification programme in the United States, while Google is considering abandoning its commitments under the Code of Practice on Disinformation.
According to RSF and the EFJ, such a decision applied in Europe could “pose threats to public safety”. It would also “transform the informational chaos we already know into an informational and democratic crisis”.
“The European Union must not be afraid to enforce its rules on powerful online platforms”, argues Thibaut Bruttin, Director General of Reporters Without Borders.
The associations are asking the Commission to open “an investigation to assess the transnational consequences” of Meta’s announcement and to demand an in-depth analysis from the tech giant as well as the provisional suspension of this decision “given the serious and immediate harm”.
To see the letter, go to https://aeur.eu/f/f5b (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)