A few weeks after the inclusion of the ‘Code of Conduct on Countering Illegal Hate Speech Online’, it is now the turn of the ‘Code of Practice on Disinformation’ to be incorporated into the Digital Services Act (DSA).
On Thursday 13 February, the European Commission announced that all the major online platforms, with the notable exception of X, have agreed to make their voluntary commitments to tackle disinformation and the fight against it official.
The Code was introduced and signed by over 40 companies, including Google, Meta, Microsoft and TikTok. This is despite recent statements casting doubt on these platforms’ level of commitment (see EUROPE 13564/4).
The Commission stated that incorporating the Code within the DSA means that it can be used as a “reference for determining compliance with the DSA by the platforms”. However, it should be noted that participation in the Code does not constitute a mitigating factor in the event of suspected non-compliance, nor does it constitute “a presumption of innocence”.
Some platforms had expressed scepticism about certain types of “fact-checking” measures. Google had stated that “compliance with this commitment is not an ‘appropriate, relevant and practicable’ method for YouTube and Search to mitigate the systemic risk of disinformation”.
“There have been changes for Google, which has a different approach to fact-checking. It is special because Google is both a social network with YouTube and a search engine. There are internal discussions, and perhaps they will find a different solution, but they are fully committed to the fight against disinformation”, a Commission official was keen to point out.
Meta, for its part, stated that “in accordance with [its] public announcements”, the company would “continue to evaluate the applicability of this chapter to Facebook and Instagram”, while warning of possible future changes in this area, namely the planned transition to‘community notes’.
A system that has been adopted by X and is still being “reviewed” by the Commission to “assess its effectiveness”.
The Code will be integrated into the DSA on 1 July. (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)