EU Warns U.K. Voters of Potential Disinformation

The European Commission Building. (Wikimedia Commons)

The European Union (EU) is warning potential voters in the upcoming United Kingdom elections that social media sites may be spreading disinformation. The EU alleges that sites such as Twitter and Facebook allow disinformation on their sites, and that these companies should take steps to stop the spread of misleading information, according to the Independent.

The upcoming U.K. general election has increased concern among EU leaders that false information will spread online during the election. The leaders say that “serious further steps” must be taken to combat the spread of such disinformation. 

The EU acknowledges that work is being done within these companies, but it stresses that more action must be taken to increase transparency and educate users. EU leaders have said, “while the efforts of online platforms and fact-checkers can reduce harmful virality through platforms’ services, there is still an urgent need for online platforms to establish a meaningful cooperation with a wider range of trusted and independent organisations. Access to data provided so far still does not correspond to the needs of independent researchers.”

Several non-governmental groups in Europe are concerned about the spread of false information via social media as well. Some have called for the EU to impose regulations on social media companies, the Independent reports. 

All of this information comes in the wake of the European Commission’s first-ever self-assessment forms. The new Code of Practice on Disinformation had several companies, including Facebook, Google, and Twitter, begin to put out annual self-assessment forms. The EU’s executive stated that although transparency has  improved overall in the past year, steps taken by different companies “varied significantly.”

With all of this taken into consideration, the hope is that tech conglomerates will take further action to prevent the spread of disinformation during the U.K. general election.