An NGO Alleges Big Tech Platforms not doing Enough to Counter Fake News

Recently, a non-governmental organization (NGO) Awaz alleged that the major tech platforms of the world are not doing enough to tackle fake news. These platforms include YouTube, Google, Facebook, Instagram Linkedin, TikTok, and Twitter. These claims have raised questions about their capacity to comply with new EU online content laws.

The businesses are expected to submit papers this week detailing the steps they have taken to comply with the revised EU online content rules, which are linked to the online content regulations known as the Digital Services Act (DSA) that went into effect in November of last year.

An NGO Alleges Big Tech Platforms not Doing Enough to Counter Fake News

Avaaz analyzed a sample pool of 108 fact-checked pieces of content related to a 2022 anti-vaccine film and found that social media platforms, including Meta’s Instagram, failed to delete misinformation.

Avaaz stated that only 22% of the disinformation content it analyzed was marked or removed by the six largest platforms. According to the report, the corporations did not adequately combat deception in languages other than English.

“Despite explicit platform obligations in the code to improve their services in all EU languages,” Avaaz said, “our analysis discovered that in Italian, German, Hungarian, Danish, Spanish, and Estonian, no platform took action against breaching posts.” The group stated, “This investigation reveals that the majority of large platforms are not complying with their Code of Practice commitments and may violate forthcoming DSA duties.”

After adhering to the revised EU regulations, Meta, Alphabet, Twitter, and Microsoft pledged last year to take a firmer stance against disinformation. In case of non-compliance with DSA, companies can face fines of up to 6% of their global revenue.

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