European Commission to revise Code of Practice against Disinformation

EU – ONLINE PROTECTION AND EDUCATION 

The Code of Practice against Disinformation was published in September 2018 and was subsequently signed by Facebook, Google, Mozilla and Twitter, among others. The Code is a self-regulatory document and, following European Commission assessments and reports on adherence, guidance was issued in May 2021 to address shortfalls in the Code of Practice and provide a more robust monitoring framework. Most recently, the Commission announced that there will be 26 new signatories joining the drafting process for a revised version of the Code, expected to be released by the end of March 2022.

Key date(s)

• 26 September 2018 – The Code of Practice against Disinformation (“CoP”) published.
• October 2018 – CoP signed by Facebook, Google, Mozilla, and Twitter, among others.
• 10 September 2020 – European Commission publishes assessment of adherence to the CoP and reports on Covid-19-related disinformation.
• 28 January 2021 – European Commission publishes latest set of reports on 'Fighting Covid-19 Disinformation Monitoring Programme' from signatories to the CoP.
• 26 May 2021 – European Commission issues guidance to enhance the CoP (the “Guidance”).
• End of March 2022 – Revised version of the CoP to be released.

Status

• The CoP is a self-regulatory document which the signatories (Google, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, Mozilla and TikTok amongst others) voluntarily commit to taking appropriate actions to comply with the provisions of the CoP and self-assess the implementation of their commitments.
• The CoP has a particular focus on the progress made in improving the scrutiny of ad placements, ensuring transparency of political and issue-based advertising, and tackling fake accounts and malicious use of bots.
• From 31 December 2019, the European Commission carried out a comprehensive assessment of the impact of the CoP in the 12-month period after it became effective, as well as taking into account the effectiveness of the CoP on disinformation in the context of Covid-19. It published its results on 10 September 2020. The report highlighted that while the CoP has provided a framework for structured dialogue, its effectiveness is limited by insufficient information provided by signatories. This was followed by a set of reports published on 28 January 2021 on actions taken in December 2020 by the signatories.
• On 3 December 2020, the European Commission presented the European Democracy Action Plan as part of which it intends to overhaul the existing CoP into a co-regulatory framework moving more in line with the Digital Services Act.
• The European Commission has monitored and evaluated the CoP since its publication, and the Guidance reflects how platforms can enhance measures to address shortfalls in the CoP to improve transparency online.
• 26 new signatories have joined the drafting process for a revised version of the CoP, which is expected to be released by the end of March 2022.

 What it hopes to achieve 

• The European Commission had championed the CoP as being the first time worldwide that the online platform and advertising industries have voluntarily agreed to a collective strategy to fight disinformation. The Guidance seeks to broaden industry participation to include more platforms.
• The European Commission’s overhaul of the CoP under the European Democracy Action Plan intends to replace the existing CoP with a co-regulatory framework of obligations and accountability. This will ensure a more robust framework for monitoring its implementation, create awareness raising tools, and promote the removal of posts containing disinformation and cooperation with the European Digital Media Observatory (a CEF funded project aimed at creating a European hub for fact-checkers, academics and relevant stakeholders).

Who does it impact? 

• Online platforms and advertising industry stakeholders.
• The end users of such platforms who should receive a higher calibre of information as a result of the commitments made and practices to be undertaken by online platforms.

Key points 

1. CoP commitments

• • The existing CoP includes a wide range of specific commitments undertaken by its signatories including in relation to the monitoring and closure of fake accounts, increasing transparency regarding political advertising, and preventing purveyors of disinformation from profiting from their actions.

2. Issues-based advertising

• • The existing CoP includes a commitment by the signatories to use reasonable efforts to devise ways of disclosing “issue-based advertising” (i.e. advertising which advocates for or against a particular issue, particularly where that issue is being contested as part of an election or referendum), which may include disclosure of who has paid for the relevant advertising.

3. Tools and support to empower users in their online experience

• • The signatories to the existing CoP had also committed to invest in and implement products, technologies, and programmes which are designed to help individual users: (i) assess the authenticity and trustworthiness of information sources they encounter online; (ii) critically evaluate the information provided by those sources; (iii) understand why they are seeing particular content or advertisements; and (iv) access a diverse range of perspectives on particular public interest topics.

4. Report output
   • The latest set of reports highlight the measures put in place by the signatories to limit the spread of Covid-19 disinformation and demonstrate a commitment to provide more transparency and public accountability. These included promotion of authoritative sources of information, limiting content containing false information or manipulative behaviour and funding media literacy.
   • At the same time, the European Commission noted that there was a lack of sufficiently granular data to quantify the impact of the measures taken.
5. Guidance on strengthening the CoP
   • The Guidance seeks to enhance the CoP in terms of: (i) larger participation with tailored commitments; (ii) better demonetising of disinformation; (iii) ensuring the integrity of services; (iv) improving user empowerment; (v) increasing fact-checking coverage and data access for research; and (vi) creating a robust monitoring framework.

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