Eu Urges Internet Giants To Work Harder Fighting Fake News

European Union authorities warned leading tech companies including Facebook, Google and Twitter this week that they need to work harder to combat fake news ahead of upcoming blocwide parliamentary elections.

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The EU’s executive commissioners said that while the U.S. internet giants have made some progress, they need to pick up the pace of their work fighting disinformation and if their efforts are unsatisfactory, they could face regulation.

The Commission has been turning up the heat on tech companies ahead of the elections scheduled for May, in which millions of people in 27 EU member countries will vote for 705 lawmakers in the bloc’s parliament.

EU officials want to prevent the misuse of social media platforms by foreign groups trying to meddle in elections, and last year singled out Russia as a main source of disinformation in Europe.

Google, Facebook, Twitter and browser maker Mozilla are companies that so far have signed up to a voluntary EU code of conduct on fighting disinformation. The Commission said they’ve made good progress removing fake accounts and limiting sites promoting disinformation.