The European Commission has started a formal procedure to assess whether Meta, owner of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, may have violated the Digital Services Regulation (RSD).
The suspected infringements cover the policies and practices of Meta’s services regarding the presence of misleading advertising and political content in its services. The European Commission is also concerned about the absence of an effective tool for monitoring electoral speech in real time, ahead of the European Parliament elections, taking into account the discontinuation of the CrowdTangle tool, which was used for this purpose.
“We are initiating formal infringement proceedings against Meta because we suspect that they are not complying with their obligations under the RSD in terms of misleading advertising and political content, and for failing to provide researchers, journalists and election stakeholders with real-time monitoring tools and effective mechanisms to flag illegal content”, summarized the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, responsible for the industry , Thierry Breton, in a statement about the decision. “The rapid and widespread dissemination of opinions and information on social media, such as Instagram and Facebook, offers great opportunities,” acknowledged Breton. “However, online platforms are also vulnerable to the spread of disinformation and foreign interference, in particular in the period leading up to the elections.”
“This Commission has created means to protect European citizens from targeted disinformation and manipulation by third countries. If we suspect a violation of the rules, we take action. This is valid at all times, but especially in times of democratic elections.“, he stressed the President of the Commission, Ursula von give Leyen.
