EU opens investigation against Meta for electoral disinformation

The European Commission, the Executive arm of the EU (European Union), announced this Tuesday (April 30, 2024) that it has opened an investigation to assess whether Meta is applying necessary measures to combat electoral disinformation. Here is the full text (PDF – 53 kB, in English).

According to a statement, the European bloc suspects that the big tech owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp does not comply with obligations established by the DSA (Digital Services Law, in Portuguese) in relation to effective monitoring of electoral publications.

It would also not have an adequate mechanism to signal users about illegal content and misleading advertising.

The commission also raised concerns about the end of CrowdTangle, a tool that allows social media monitoring for free. According to the European bloc, the measure could result in “harm to civic discourse and electoral processes in relation to misinformation tracking capabilities”.

The European Union holds elections for the European Parliament from June 6th to 9th. According to information from the Financial Timesthe bloc’s authorities expressed concerns about foreign interference and manipulation in the election on social media, especially by Russia.

In addition to the Digital Services Law, the EU published on March 26 a guideline that recommends risk mitigation measures in the electoral process for large digital platforms. The initiative aims to reduce misinformation problems, including the use of deep fakes, and guarantee freedom of expression and user privacy.