Europe’s “Disinformation” Enforcers Pressure Platforms to Tighten Speech Controls

A recent assessment by the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) has cast doubt on the effectiveness of Big Tech’s efforts to combat so-called “disinformation” under the European Union’s Code of Practice.

The report, however, highlights a troubling trend: growing pressure on platforms like Google, Meta, Microsoft, and TikTok to police speech in ways that risk undermining open discourse.

Since signing the voluntary code in 2018, these companies have faced increasing demands to regulate content, including avoiding ad placements near alleged disinformation, labeling content deemed misleading, and sharing platform data with researchers.

These voluntary measures are set to become enforceable through the EU’s Digital Services Act starting July 1, raising further concerns about the future of free expression online.

EDMO’s evaluation of platform activity during the first half of 2024 accused the firms of falling short in areas tied to transparency and accountability. “The assessment identifies consistent gaps in transparency, independent oversight, and measurable outcomes across all commitments,” the report stated, warning that the code “risks remaining performative” unless companies impose stricter controls.

Such calls for tighter restrictions inevitably edge toward censorship, threatening the diversity of views that the internet was meant to protect.

The report criticized the companies for not providing sufficient evidence of their efforts, despite their public promises.

While Meta and Google were noted for launching certain initiatives, EDMO dismissed many as “superficial or symbolic.”

The report lamented the absence of “user engagement figures, no reported outcomes, and no indication of the actual scale of these efforts,” suggesting that Big Tech’s reluctance to flood users with heavy-handed interventions is somehow a failing, rather than a safeguard of free speech.

Digital literacy initiatives, including Meta’s “We Think Digital,” Google’s “More About This Page” tool, and Microsoft’s collaboration with NewsGuard, were similarly faulted for lacking detailed metrics. EDMO researchers questioned whether these were “declarative gestures” rather than substantive programs.

Fact-checking labels and prompts intended to inform users about allegedly inaccurate content exist across platforms, but EDMO took issue with the limited performance data shared. Although Google provided broad reach figures, the organization noted the lack of evidence on how these measures altered behavior, a demand that implicitly seeks more control over how individuals interpret information.

Among the companies reviewed, TikTok alone was deemed to have met the baseline for supporting independent research. Even so, EDMO criticized the complexity of accessing its Research API, and faulted other platforms for limiting the scope of their research programs and tightly controlling data access.

While framed as a transparency issue, these restrictions arguably serve as necessary checks on the overreach of external monitors eager to shape online narratives.

EDMO’s findings, based on expert surveys, internal analysis, and transparency documents, reflect a broader tension: the increasing conflation of content moderation with mandatory censorship, all in the name of combating disinformation.

As the EU moves toward legally binding requirements, the stakes for freedom of expression in the digital space have never been higher.

The post Europe’s “Disinformation” Enforcers Pressure Platforms to Tighten Speech Controls appeared first on Reclaim The Net.