EU wants tech giants to report monthly on virus fake news

BRUSSELS (AP) — A senior European Union official warned online platforms like Google and Facebook on Wednesday to step up the fight against fake news, coming notably from countries like China and Russia, but she praised the approach of Twitter for fact-checking a tweet by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Unveiling a plan to fight disinformation linked to the coronavirus, European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova said that she wants online tech companies to provide detailed reports each month on the action they are taking to prevent a fake news “infodemic.”

The commission insists that “foreign actors and certain third countries, in particular Russia and China, have engaged in targeted influence operations and disinformation campaigns in the EU, its neighborhood, and globally.” No details were provided.

Jourova praised those U.S. digital giants that agreed to extra scrutiny under a voluntary code of practice aimed at halting the spread of disinformation linked to the virus, but she told reporters that this is just a first step and that “there is room for improvement.”

“They have to open up and offer more evidence that the measures they have taken are working well. They also have to enable the public to identify new threats independently. We invite them now to provide monthly reports with more granular information than ever before,” she said.

She noted that short-video app TikTok would soon sign up to the disinformation code of practice, launched in 2018.

Jourova played down concerns that the EU commission, which proposes laws in the 27-nation bloc and ensures that they are enforced, plans to regulate disinformation itself, saying: “I don’t want to create a ministry of truth.”

But she praised the approach of Twitter last month, when it placed...