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Google, Facebook Agree EU ‘Fake News’ Code of Conduct | PHYS

EU Digital Economy Commissioner Mariya Gabriel said the commitment was “a step in the right direction”

Major tech companies including Facebook and Google agreed Wednesday on a code of conduct to combat online disinformation in the European Union, although critics said the commitments were too weak.

Seven months before the European elections, the code published by the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, called in particular for the withdrawal of advertising revenues from disseminators of “fake news”.

In addition, companies agreed that the source of adverts should be clearly labelled and also agreed to closer scrutiny of ad content disseminated on platforms.

They will also track the misuse of automated bots to distribute fake news and expand the possibility for users to lodge complaints about suspect posts.

EU Digital Economy Commissioner Mariya Gabriel said the commitment was “a step in the right direction”, but also called for further efforts by Silicon Valley giants.

Gabriel maintained her threat of EU regulation if the voluntary commitment did not swiftly lead to tangible results.

EU sources said Facebook and Google, including its video sharing site Youtube, have so far backed the code of conduct, with big tech lobby Edima also one of the signatories.

Source: Google, Facebook agree EU ‘fake news’ code of conduct