Twitter, aka X, tops charts for misinformation, EU official says
(2023/09/26)
- Reference: 1695756612
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/09/26/twitter_eu_disinformation/
- Source link:
European Commission veep Vera Jourova said in a speech on Tuesday that Elon Musk's social media service X, formerly known as Twitter, has the highest ratio of disinformation among large social media platforms.
Jourova provided an update on the status of the European Union's [1]Code of Practice on Disinformation of 2022 , a voluntary framework for dealing with disinformation and misinformation.
"Disinformation is not new, nor does it happen only on online platforms," said Jourova in [2]a press statement . "But with increasing digitalization, malicious actors have gained new ways to try to undermine our democracies."
[3]
Jourova said signatories of the code should understand the risk of disinformation in the context of current events, specifically Russia's war against Ukraine and the EU elections next year.
[4]
[5]
"The Russian state has engaged in the war of ideas to pollute our information space with half-truth and lies to create a false image that democracy is no better than autocracy," she said.
Europe, relevant digital platforms, and the rest of the world need to address the risk of social media manipulation, she warned.
[6]Russian meddling in 2016 US presidential election was weak sauce
[7]As Russia wages disinfo war, Ukraine's cyber chief calls for global anti-fake news fight
[8]Mastodon makes a major move amid Musk's multiple messes
[9]X marks the spot where free speech clashes with Californian transparency
Forty-four companies so far have become signatories of the Code, including Google, Meta, Microsoft, and TikTok, each of which provided [10]July transparency reports to document their platform integrity efforts during the first half of the year. Twitter/X is not among them any more.
Google's report, for example, says among other things that its YouTube subsidiary removed more than 400 channels between January and April 2023 for carrying coordinated influence operations tied to the Russian-state sponsored Internet Research Agency (IRA). And Microsoft's report says that the company's LinkedIn subsidiary prevented the creation of 6.7 million fake accounts in the first six months of 2023.
[11]
Twitter used to be a signatory but abandoned that commitment [12]in May following the service's acquisition by Musk last year. In doing so, the social media platform, which has seen its [13]ad revenue plummet under Musk's stewardship, appears to be inviting a regulatory challenge. Under the EU's Digital Services Act, [14]as of August 25 , digital platforms also face legal requirements to address fake news and coordinated influence operations.
"X, former Twitter, who is not under the Code any more, is the platform with the largest ratio of mis/disinformation posts," said Jourova, basing her conclusion on [15]a report [PDF] compiled by TrustLab, a venture-backed online safety company.
The TrustLab report looks at disinformation and misinformation at Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube across three countries: Poland, Slovakia, and Spain.
[16]
In the report, Twitter stands out for having the highest discoverability of misinformation. Also, "Mis/disinformation content received more engagement than non-mis/disinformation content on Twitter," the report says.
Asked to comment, X/Twitter answered with an autoresponder: "Busy now, please check back later." ®
Get our [17]Tech Resources
[1] https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/code-practice-disinformation
[2] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/speech_23_4645
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZRNUg6HpMy7stEwnmUbWTwAAAMY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
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[6] https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/10/russian_election_meddling_us/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/22/ukraine_cybersecurity_chief_mwise/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/22/mastodon_4_2_major_update/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/11/x_california_moderation_law/
[10] https://disinfocode.eu/reports-archive/?years=2023
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZRNUg6HpMy7stEwnmUbWTwAAAMY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://twitter.com/VeraJourova/status/1662448138865582080
[13] https://www.bbc.com/news/business-66217641
[14] https://twitter.com/ThierryBreton/status/1662194595755704321
[15] https://disinfocode.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/code-of-practice-on-disinformation-september-22-2023.pdf
[16] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZRNUg6HpMy7stEwnmUbWTwAAAMY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[17] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Jourova provided an update on the status of the European Union's [1]Code of Practice on Disinformation of 2022 , a voluntary framework for dealing with disinformation and misinformation.
"Disinformation is not new, nor does it happen only on online platforms," said Jourova in [2]a press statement . "But with increasing digitalization, malicious actors have gained new ways to try to undermine our democracies."
[3]
Jourova said signatories of the code should understand the risk of disinformation in the context of current events, specifically Russia's war against Ukraine and the EU elections next year.
[4]
[5]
"The Russian state has engaged in the war of ideas to pollute our information space with half-truth and lies to create a false image that democracy is no better than autocracy," she said.
Europe, relevant digital platforms, and the rest of the world need to address the risk of social media manipulation, she warned.
[6]Russian meddling in 2016 US presidential election was weak sauce
[7]As Russia wages disinfo war, Ukraine's cyber chief calls for global anti-fake news fight
[8]Mastodon makes a major move amid Musk's multiple messes
[9]X marks the spot where free speech clashes with Californian transparency
Forty-four companies so far have become signatories of the Code, including Google, Meta, Microsoft, and TikTok, each of which provided [10]July transparency reports to document their platform integrity efforts during the first half of the year. Twitter/X is not among them any more.
Google's report, for example, says among other things that its YouTube subsidiary removed more than 400 channels between January and April 2023 for carrying coordinated influence operations tied to the Russian-state sponsored Internet Research Agency (IRA). And Microsoft's report says that the company's LinkedIn subsidiary prevented the creation of 6.7 million fake accounts in the first six months of 2023.
[11]
Twitter used to be a signatory but abandoned that commitment [12]in May following the service's acquisition by Musk last year. In doing so, the social media platform, which has seen its [13]ad revenue plummet under Musk's stewardship, appears to be inviting a regulatory challenge. Under the EU's Digital Services Act, [14]as of August 25 , digital platforms also face legal requirements to address fake news and coordinated influence operations.
"X, former Twitter, who is not under the Code any more, is the platform with the largest ratio of mis/disinformation posts," said Jourova, basing her conclusion on [15]a report [PDF] compiled by TrustLab, a venture-backed online safety company.
The TrustLab report looks at disinformation and misinformation at Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube across three countries: Poland, Slovakia, and Spain.
[16]
In the report, Twitter stands out for having the highest discoverability of misinformation. Also, "Mis/disinformation content received more engagement than non-mis/disinformation content on Twitter," the report says.
Asked to comment, X/Twitter answered with an autoresponder: "Busy now, please check back later." ®
Get our [17]Tech Resources
[1] https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/code-practice-disinformation
[2] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/speech_23_4645
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZRNUg6HpMy7stEwnmUbWTwAAAMY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZRNUg6HpMy7stEwnmUbWTwAAAMY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZRNUg6HpMy7stEwnmUbWTwAAAMY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/10/russian_election_meddling_us/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/22/ukraine_cybersecurity_chief_mwise/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/22/mastodon_4_2_major_update/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/11/x_california_moderation_law/
[10] https://disinfocode.eu/reports-archive/?years=2023
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZRNUg6HpMy7stEwnmUbWTwAAAMY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://twitter.com/VeraJourova/status/1662448138865582080
[13] https://www.bbc.com/news/business-66217641
[14] https://twitter.com/ThierryBreton/status/1662194595755704321
[15] https://disinfocode.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/code-of-practice-on-disinformation-september-22-2023.pdf
[16] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZRNUg6HpMy7stEwnmUbWTwAAAMY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[17] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
No Joke?!
Omnipresent
This took a study to realize?
Twitter / X is a sewer
Andy Non
Out of curiosity I created an X account the other day. I selected various scientific and technology topics as my only interests. What I got was a feed with 99% unwanted crap, including conspiracy theories, verbal diarrhoea quoted from Trump's own platform, Alex Jones rantings, Q-Anon nonsense, republican political ravings, crypto currency scam posts and a flood of posts on topics I have zero interest in such as American football, baseball, formula 1 racing, actors, singers, soaps etc. Even after clicking the "not interested in this post / topic" the feed kept bringing the same crap up continuously. X is like an open sewer, with an endless supply of turds floating to the top. I deactivated my account less than 24 hours after opening it.
Re: Twitter / X is a sewer
Pascal Monett
I don't need to check it out.
I know exactly what Xitter is.
Just look at who's at the helm.
Ordinary Donkey
Narrowly beating out the Canadian parliament at this rate...
Well, as long as the IPCC and their syncophants have accounts
stiine
That ratio won't be changing.
Re: Well, as long as the IPCC and their syncophants have accounts
Howard Sway
What are syncophants? A bunch of elephants dancing in unison?
any news with Germany and X?
Few months ago Germany was threatening something like $50 billion in fines for misinfo on X, and I thought I read some kind of August deadline but haven't noticed a peep about that since.