A report by the European Digital Media Observatory finds that Google, Meta, Microsoft, and TikTok are not doing enough to fight disinformation under EU rules, citing lack of transparency, oversight, and measurable outcomes.
Google, Meta, Microsoft, and TikTok are not fulfilling their obligations under EU laws to combat disinformation, according to a new report by the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO). The assessment covered the period from January to June 2024 and reviewed how these tech companies met the eight core commitments of the EU’s Code of Practice on Disinformation, which will be integrated into the Digital Services Act (DSA) on July 1st.
EDMO found a “clear gap” between the platforms’ commitments and the verifiable evidence of their implementation. “The assessment identifies consistent gaps in transparency, independent oversight and measurable outcomes across all commitments,” the report states, cautioning that the code “risks remaining performative” if the companies do not step up.
The Code of Practice asks signatories to avoid advertisements next to disinformation, efficiently label misleading or fake information, and provide researchers with data about their platforms. The report found that efforts to fight disinformation “remain very limited, lacking consistency and meaningful engagement.”
While Meta and Google have launched initiatives to address disinformation, EDMO found they are often “superficial or symbolic.” Access to tools such as Google and Meta’s political ad and fact-checking labels, and Microsoft’s “Content Integrity Tools,” remains difficult, and there is a “lack of data” about how many users interact with them by country. “There are no user engagement figures, no reported outcomes, and no indication of the actual scale of these efforts,” the report said.
The same data gaps exist for media literacy projects, which the report described as “high-level” initiatives that lack measurable data. Researchers questioned whether these measures are merely “declarative gestures.”
Meta, Google, and TikTok offer fact-checking panels, user prompts, and notifications that explain how information could be misleading, but there is no performance data provided. Google, in particular, reports “large-scale reach figures” for fact-checking panels but does not offer data on how user behavior changes after seeing them.
Regarding data access for researchers, only TikTok received a passing grade, yet researchers reported difficulties with TikTok’s “opaque application process” for its Research API database. Other platforms provide access to “certain datasets” through researcher programs, but access is “highly restricted,” the authors note.
EDMO’s analysis used twice-yearly transparency reports from the platforms, an expert survey, and internal research to assess compliance.
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