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.
Brussels specifies that “the suspected infringements cover Meta’s policies and practices regarding misleading advertising and political content on its services”, also concerning “disinformation campaigns and inauthentic behavior coordinated within the EU”, at a time of electoral campaign .
The institution also suspects that Meta violated the new rules through “the unavailability of an effective tool for monitoring civic discourse and elections in real time by third parties, before the elections for the European Parliament”.
Just over a month before the European elections, scheduled for June 6th and 9th, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, states, cited in the note, that Brussels acts “to protect European citizens from disinformation and manipulation by part of third countries”.
“If we suspect a violation of the rules, we act. This is true at any time, but especially in times of democratic elections”, emphasizes Ursula von der Leyen, who despite not being on the European People’s Party lists for the European elections, is the party’s main candidate for the European Commission, aiming for a second mandate in the community executive.
“Large digital platforms must fulfill their obligations and invest sufficient resources in this area and today’s decision shows that we take compliance with the rules seriously”, says the person in charge.
Since the end of last August and after a period of adaptation, the EU has become the first jurisdiction in the world with rules for digital platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, which are now obliged to remove illegal content.
Companies that do not comply with this new legislation may face fines proportional to their size, with larger companies being subject to sanctions of up to 6% of their global turnover.
