EU launches investigation against Facebook and Instagram over Russian propaganda
If the EU finds that Meta has violated the law, the company will be fined up to 6% of its annual turnover
The European Union will investigate Facebook and Instagram, as it fears that the American company Meta, which owns them, "is not doing enough to counter disinformation from Russia and other countries".
Source. The Financial Times reports this with reference to two sources familiar with the matter.
According to them, EU regulators suspect that moderation on Meta social media is "not effective enough to stop the widespread spread of political advertising that risks undermining the electoral process".
European officials are particularly concerned about how the platform is responding to Russia's attempts to "undermine the upcoming European elections," one of the publication's sources said. However, it is expected that the European Commission will not name Russia in the announcement of the investigation and will only mention the manipulation of information by foreign states.
The EU also believes that the Meta mechanism, which allows users to mark illegal content, is not simple and convenient enough to comply with the Digital Services Act (DSA).
This law requires platforms to disclose what measures they take to combat disinformation and propaganda. If the EU finds that Meta has violated the law, the company will be fined up to 6% of its annual turnover.
After the investigation, the European Commission will give Meta five working days to indicate what measures it will take to correct the deficiencies. Otherwise, the company will face sanctions under the Digital Services Act, the FT source said.
"We have a well-established process for identifying and mitigating risks on our platforms. We look forward to continuing our engagement with the European Commission and providing it with further details of our work," Meta's press service said.
The EU will conduct an investigation into Meta following an audit of Twitter that began in December 2023. The reason for it was suspicions of spreading "illegal content" about the war between Hamas and Israel.
Background. As a reminder, Meta's spokesperson was sentenced in absentia to six years in a maximum security prison in Russia for "justifying terrorism".
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