On Tuesday March 8, 2022, the 27 European ministers responsible for digital affairs met in an informal meeting with representatives of Facebook, Twitter and Google in Paris. On this occasion, they signed a joint statement to ask the big platforms to “strengthen the fight against online disinformation in the context of the war in Ukraine”.
A call to strengthen measures against disinformation
Representatives from Norway and Switzerland were also present at this meeting. Exchanges on the sidelines of the Russian invasion and the war taking place a few hundred kilometers from Paris. A “joint statement” was born. The ministers in charge of digital call on social networks and more generally the major platforms, better fight misinformation and to reinforce the measures taken traditionally.
Already two million users on the French metaverse The Sandbox
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– Ministry of Economy, Finance, Recovery ???? (@Economie_Gouv) March 8, 2022
Cédric O, Secretary of State in charge of the digital transition and electronic communications in France, took the floor to detail the contours of this declaration. After a discussion “extremely frank and lively”in the words of the French minister, the companies concerned are “called upon to mobilize additional resources to oversee moderation in conflict zones”. The French minister also asks the web giants to adopt additional measures to ensure that cyberspace does not become a hotbed for online hate and misinformation.
The European Union demands more moderators and more speed
In the current context, social networks are required to prioritize reliable and recognized sources of information, as well as the “real-time information sharing of useful data for cooperation with academia and research”. The 27 European ministers in charge of digital also ask platforms to respond more quickly to requests made by governments, when fake accounts are detected. They must also have moderators in all the languages spoken within the European Union.
According to Cedric O, “misinformation does not only concern the major markets”. He specifies that we are not in a normal period and that the platforms are now bound by performance obligations. The Minister also insisted on the importance of DSA and DMA with major platforms. The DSA will, for example, allow all countries to know the number of moderators hired by the platforms. This text should be voted on in the coming weeks.