Online platforms disinformation code going formal, but X is out

All major online platforms except Elon Musk’s X will by July see voluntary commitments on disinformation formalised under the EU’s platform rules, the Digital Services Act (DSA), the European Commission announced on Thursday. 

The integration of the code of practice on disinformation into the DSA will “make it a benchmark for determining platforms' compliance with the DSA”, the Commission said. 

The code, dating back to 2022, was initiated and signed by 42 companies including Google, Meta, Microsoft and TikTok. It sets out a broad range of voluntary commitments and measures to counter online disinformation, such as transparency of political advertising and cooperation during elections.

Making it more formal will mean that the Commission can more easily assess whether the companies comply with the DSA. However, signing it does not “presume innocence”, a senior EU official said. 

The Commission originally aimed to finalise the work by January, as reported. “For platforms it should lead to more meaningful engagement, it should not be a tick the box exercise," Paul Gordon, the assistant director at the Irish digital services coordinator Coimisiúin na Meán – which oversees DSA compliance of a range of online platforms – said at the time. 

Fact checkers

The DSA entered into force in August 2023, since then the Commission has launched several probes into online platforms including X, TikTok and Meta’s Facebook and Instagram.

Last month, Meta announced that it would drop its fact checkers in the US and replace them with a community notes system, similar to X, saying the company will get back to the “roots of free expression”.

Meta did sign up to the code and there is no change in its commitment to the code, the EU official said. However, the Commission “cannot force them to stay in”, in case any company wants to drop out.

X left the code when billionaire Musk bought to company in 2022.

Last month, the Commission already formalised efforts by Big Tech companies to counter illegal hate speech online by integrating their industry commitments into the DSA.

The Code of Conduct on countering illegal hate speech online – which was first drafted in 2016 – was signed by platforms including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, TikTok, X and YouTube.