EU CALLS FOR MORE ACTION ON FAKE NEWS

The European Union is calling on U.S. tech giants to step up their efforts against disinformation on their platforms as the EU prepares for new elections.

The EU’s enforcement body, the European Commission, lauded Google, Facebook, Twitter and Mozilla on Tuesday for steps they have taken but said more needs to be done.

“Signatories have taken action, for example giving people new ways to get more details about the source of a story or ad,” Andrus Ansip, the commission’s vice president for the digital single market, said in a statement. “Now they should make sure these tools are available to everyone across the EU, monitor their efficiency, and continuously adapt to new means used by those spreading disinformation. There is no time to waste.”

The companies and some of their trade associations signed a commitment this month to better combat the spread of disinformation, and this week they submitted their first progress reports on the effort.

The commission’s Code of Practice calls for transparency around political ads, a crackdown on bots and fake accounts and making data available for researchers.