Tech platforms need to do more to prevent the spread of manipulation campaigns online, European Commission Vice President Vĕra Jourová said.
“It cannot be as cheap and as easy as it is today to organize targeted manipulation campaigns and run them on social media,” Jourová told Fridays POLITICO Brussels Playbook when asked about whether self-regulation designed to prevent manipulation and fake accounts had been effective.
Jourová oversees the EUs Code of Practice on Disinformation, which entered into force last year and under which platforms committed to deleting fake accounts, making sure theyre not monetized, and to regularly reporting on manipulation.
But the success of self-regulation has been called into question, with a report released Friday by a NATO-accredited group demonstrating that social media networks are failing to root out fake accounts.
“Self-regulation is not working,” the report said. “In contrast with the reports presented by the social media companies themselves, our report presents a different perspective: We were easily able to buy more than 54,000 inauthentic social media interactions with little or no resistance.”
Speaking ahead of the studys release, Jourová said: “Society also needs to know what happens behind the algorithms, and platforms need to open up to researchers and governments.”
She added: “They simply must step up efforts against disinformation, especially from foreign sources. I will critically evaluate the code of practice and translatRead More – Source
