Big Tech has failed to police Russian disinformation, EC study concludes
- Reference: 1693935906
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/09/05/big_tech_vlops/
- Source link:
The independent study of the DSA's risk management framework [1]published by the EU's executive arm, the European Commission, concluded that commitments by social media platforms to mitigate the reach and influence of global online disinformation campaigns have been generally unsuccessful.
The reach of Kremlin-sponsored disinformation has only increased since the major platforms all [2]signed a voluntary Code of Practice on Disinformation in mid-2022.
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"In theory, the requirements of this voluntary Code were applied during the second half of 2022 – during our period of study," the researchers said. We're sure you're just as shocked as we are that social media companies failed to uphold a voluntary commitment.
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Between January and May of 2023, "average engagement [of pro-Kremlin accounts rose] by 22 percent across all online platforms," the study said. By absolute numbers, the report found, Meta led the pack on engagement with Russian misinformation. However, the increase was "largely driven by Twitter, where engagement grew by 36 percent after CEO Elon Musk decided to lift mitigation measures on Kremlin-backed accounts," researchers concluded. Twitter, now known as X, [6]pulled out of the disinformation Code in May.
Across the platforms studied – Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube – Kremlin-backed accounts have amassed some 165 million followers and have had their content viewed at least 16 billion times "in less than a year." None of the platforms we contacted responded to questions.
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Telegram is not classified as a VLOP under the DSA, and so does not have to comply with the Act until next year when it goes into effect for all online platforms.
"There were instances of effective mitigation that targeted very specific accounts and reduced the risk level for the audiences of those channels," the researchers concluded in their study. "However, at the systemic level of all accounts on the platforms engaged in Kremlin disinformation campaigns, the mitigation measures failed."
Narrow scopes of mitigation policies – like only policing known Kremlin-affiliated accounts – allowed easy circumvention, and in cases where moderation was successful, offending accounts just directed users elsewhere, as cross platform manipulation was ignored entirely. Platforms "rarely reviewed and removed more than 50 percent of the clearly violative content," and inconsistently applied pre-existing policies banning hate speech and incitement to violence.
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The end result? Despite commitments to prevent it, "The reach of these pro-Kremlin networks has more than doubled since the war began."
Too Big Tech to handle?
The EU's [9]Digital Services Act and its requirements that VLOPs (defined by the Act as companies large enough to reach 10 percent of the EU, or roughly 45 million people) police illegal content and disinformation [10]became enforceable late last month .
Under the DSA, VLOPs are also [11]required "to tackle the spread of illegal content, online disinformation and other societal risks," such as, say, the massive disinformation campaign being waged by the Kremlin since Putin decided to invade Ukraine last year.
The researchers also examined how the DSA's rules could be used to limit the spread of Russian disinformation, whether it rose to the standards that would require VLOPs to police it and whether they did so.
"The Kremlin's ongoing disinformation campaign… causes risks to public security, fundamental rights and electoral processes inside the European Union," the study concluded, meaning it triggered the need for a VLOP response dictated by [12]Articles 34 and [13]35 of the DSA. That response was piecemeal at best.
Crucially, however, the VLOPs weren't required to take steps to limit the spread of disinformation as required by the DSA – those requirements only went into effect, as mentioned above, in late August.
Now that VLOPs are bound by the DSA, will anything change? We asked the European Commission if it can take any enforcement actions, or whether it'll make changes to the DSA to make disinformation rules tougher, but have yet to hear back.
Two VLOPs are fighting their designation: [14]Amazon and German fashion retailer [15]Zalando . The two orgs claim that as retailers, they shouldn't be considered in the same category as Facebook, Pinterest, and Wikipedia.
[16]First pushback against EU's Digital Services Act and it's not Google
[17]Amazon, Bing, Wikipedia make EU's list of 'Very Large' platforms
[18]Europe doesn't just pass laws on Big Tech algorithms, it sets up cop shops to police them
[19]Children should have separate sections in social media sites, says UK coroner
In the meantime, we already had a glimpse into how DSA compliance might fail shortly before VLOP compliance rules went into effect last month, and that glimpse also [20]suggested the VLOPs weren't ready. The rest of the tech world will have to fall into line from February next year. It appears that they're unprepared yet again, but so far the DSA has failed to change a thing. ®
Get our [21]Tech Resources
[1] https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/c1d645d0-42f5-11ee-a8b8-01aa75ed71a1/language-de
[2] https://disinfocode.eu/signatories-archive/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZPelAoD4kp@FpBt45W0NGgAAAMM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZPelAoD4kp@FpBt45W0NGgAAAMM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZPelAoD4kp@FpBt45W0NGgAAAMM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2023/05/30/twitter_disinformation/
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZPelAoD4kp@FpBt45W0NGgAAAMM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZPelAoD4kp@FpBt45W0NGgAAAMM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/06/eu_dsa_dma_laws_big_tech/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/25/google_eu_dsa/
[11] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20220701IPR34364/digital-services-landmark-rules-adopted-for-a-safer-open-online-environment
[12] https://digitalservicesact.cc/dsa/art34.html
[13] https://digitalservicesact.cc/dsa/art35.html
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/11/amazon_sues_eu_dsa/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/27/zalando_vlop_lawsuit/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/27/zalando_vlop_lawsuit/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/26/amazon_app_store_bookingcom_and/
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/20/europe_ecat_investigation/
[19] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/18/social_media_separate/
[20] https://www.reuters.com/technology/big-tech-braces-roll-out-eus-digital-services-act-2023-08-24/
[21] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
In the UK this is largely covered:
Terrorism Act Section 5 makes it an offence for a person to engage in the preparation of acts of terrorism, or to assist others in preparation of acts of terrorism.
but unfortunately it is not enforced when it comes to Russian terrorist propaganda and platforms allowing it.
...considering the government itself is not allowed to do it.
But this is how you work around boring little issues like free speech, democracy, the rule of law etc whether that's constitutionally protected or not. How can Mintrue rise to power if we insist on questioning everything?
The Ministry of Peace concerns itself with war, the Ministry of Truth with lies, the Ministry of Love with torture and the Ministry of Plenty with starvation. These contradictions are not accidental, nor do they result from ordinary hypocrisy: they are deliberate exercises in doublethink.
Peace talks are now arms deals, Ministry of Love is where you go if you question authority, and the Ministry of Plenty will ban fertilisers and feed you bugs. But a great example here-
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66509180
Threats, insults, and Kremlin 'robots': How Russian diplomacy died under Putin
In the years leading up to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, diplomats lost their authority, their role reduced to echoing the Kremlin's aggressive rhetoric.
...Mr Ryabkov read Moscow's official position from a piece of paper and resisted Ms Nuland's attempts to start a discussion. Ms Nuland was shocked, according to two people who discussed the incident with her.
This is the Nuland who hand-picked 'Yats' to be President of Ukraine, said 'fsck the EU' and who's husband is making a lot of money from his 'Institute for the Promotion of War'. Oddly enough one of the Bbc's favorite sources for 'reliable' information on the conflict.
Western officials still thought it was worth trying to work with Russia. In 2009, Mr Lavrov and the then-US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pressed a giant red "reset button" in relations, and the two countries seemed to be building co-operation - especially on security issues.
But it soon became obvious to US officials that their Russian counterparts were simply parroting Mr Putin's growing anti-Western views, says Ben Rhodes, deputy national security advisor to former US President Barack Obama.
That would be the Clinton who blamed Russia for her losing the election, and blames Russia for pretty much everything ever since. But presumably a different Russia to the one that donated generously to her 'Clinton Foundation'. Plus part of the 'dream team' that gave the world diplomacy in Libya, Syria, Ukraine to Biden and a lot of other first class democracy.
As the Arab Spring, the US involvement in Libya, and the Russian street protests unfolded in 2011 and 2012, Mr Putin decided that diplomacy wouldn't get him anywhere, Mr Rhodes says.
Not suprising really. Russian diplomats warned at the UN and elsewhere that those interventions would turn into a shit-show, and they did. Much as with Afghanistan where the West spent years and trillions 'fighting the Taliban' only to hand power right over to them after the retreat. Afghanistan has, however always been the graveyard of empires.
And then there's this article. It makes no specific claims for 'disinformation', only Russia is doing it and shouldn't be, even though propaganda is too be expected during any conflict. But this is one of the most disgusting aspects of this sorry saga that the only 'official' news is so very one-sided.. And the EU likes this, and wants to make it worse. The Bbc is, of course the role model Orwell wrote about.
Well, what's the alternative then? Just allow Russia's various spy agencies to attempt to influence elections all over the world to promote their preferred candidates? Maybe try to install a bunch of strong-men type who will slowly erode the democratic foundations of Western nations in favor of an autocratic system similar to Russia? And of course now the Chinese are getting in on the game as well. They're still pretty bad at it, but no doubt they'll improve over time.
Disinformation?
No one ever considered people in general are tired of USA/NATO tyranny - sanctions, bombing Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, etc..? - All under false pretenses.
Perhaps it is not disinformation, just the truth
Re: Disinformation?
What's the weather in St Petersburg, comrade?
Re: Disinformation?
You've highlighted the exact problem.
Anyone who points out Western disinformation or lies or propaganda is tarred with "oooh, you must be a {citizen of enemy of the moment}.
Re: Disinformation?
@elsergiovolador: “ What's the weather in St Petersburg, comrade? ”
About the same as in [1]Berkshire . You stupid baskets have managed to bring war to Europe and now they're going to site nukes on UK soil.
[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-31070114
Lazy, arrogant politicians trying to be World Police on the cheap.
What they want is to block the other guy's propaganda and only allow their own to appear. But these services are global. There will be a lot of people out there in other nations using these services that are aligned with Putin or China or wherever, and consider US or EU statements propaganda. The concept of a tech provider as conduit should have been sacrosanct.
If they want to block propaganda, they should pay their own spooks at GCHQ, the NSA et al to identify it, and then GAFA can block it, only in their territories, replacing it with a blank screen: 'Your government has censored this as propaganda and you cannot view it'.
Governments should stop being lazy and dumping their spook work on to tech companies. And they should stop claiming jurisdiction over cyberspace that they were not elected to govern.
And if they genuinely oppose Russia, target Putin and the Russian government rather than re-running WWI tank battles on the smouldering wreckage of Ukraine in the sort of proxy war they spent the 20thC running in Africa and South America, at the expense of the lives of a horrific number of ordinary people.
What about Neocon disinformation ..
What about Neocon disinformation, like Assad and his barrel bombing of children's hospitals as depicted in those videos by the “White Helmets”.
[1]Air raid hits children's hospital in Syria's Aleppo
[2]Fake News Alert: CNN Finally Admits “White Helmets” Staged Fake Video
[3]Here We Go Again: YouTube Clips Of Syrian "Chemical Attacks" Are Back - Meet The Man Behind The Propaganda
[4]Syria : White Helmets ... EXPOSED!
[5]The Truth Behind The Oft-Quoted Syrian Observatory For Human Rights
[6]White Helmets' bizarre ‘mannequin challenge’ in Syrian warzone
[7]White Helmets…”and the winnner is…anything but truth
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSp14jfU2_s&t=2m28s
[2] http://www.globalresearch.ca/fake-news-alert-cnn-finally-admits-white-helmets-staged-fake-video/5559164
[3] https://archive.ph/W489O
[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG6gb31VJHA
[5] https://anonhq.com/truth-behind-oft-quoted-syrian-observatory-human-rights/
[6] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8bIupYSZeU
[7] http://www.veteranstoday.com/2017/02/28/white-helmets-and-the-winnner-is-anything-but-truth
I'm not entirely comfortable with the government telling big tech platforms that it is their duty to filter unacceptable discourse along blurry guidelines. Though at least the EU is not supposed to have a strong law protecting free speech. It's rather ironical to see the US government complain that platforms aren't doing enough to police misinformation, considering the government itself is not allowed to do it.