The European Union wants social media platforms to submit monthly reports on how they’re handling misinformation around the coronavirus pandemic.
The new guidelines were unveiled by the European Commission on Wednesday and apply to companies including Facebook (FB), Google (GOOGL) and Twitter (TWTR)that have signed up to an existing EU code of conduct on disinformation.
World health leaders have warned for months about an “infodemic” surrounding the virus, on everything from its origin to fake cures and how countries are responding to the virus.
“We have witnessed a wave of false and misleading information, hoaxes and conspiracy theories as well as targeted influence operations by foreign actors,” Commission Vice President Josep Borrell said at a press conference. “Some of these are aimed at harming the EU and its member states, trying to undermine our democracies, the credibility of the EU and of national authorities. What is more, this information in times of the coronavirus can kill.”
