The European Commission says Meta Platforms – the parent comapany of Facebook and Instagram – has taken measures to mitigate the spread of disinformation in the run-up to crucial EU elections in June.
Speaking on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the commission said, "Meta has now deployed new functionalities ...27 new real-time visual dashboards, one for each member state, to allow third-party real-time civic discourse and election monitoring.
Last month, the European Commission opened an investigation into suspected breaches of EU online content rules against Meta, as it said its Facebook and Instagram platforms had failed to tackle disinformation and deceptive advertising.
The commission said it would monitor the roll out of the new features as the formal procedures against Meta were ongoing.
After collaborating with the European Commission we have added an EU Parliamentary elections Live Display on CrowdTangle to view Facebook and Instagram posts for the upcoming elections.https://t.co/GK6d2oecdE
— Meta Newsroom EMEA (@MetaNewsEMEA) May 27, 2024
Tracking misinformation
This comes as Meta Platforms added safety features to its misinformation tracking tool CrowdTangle for use during European Parliament elections in an attempt to allay EU concerns that triggered last month's investigation into the impact of its decision to phase out the tool.
Last week, the social media platform said candidates for next month's polls will be shown a notification at the top of their feed in Facebook and Instagram on how to protect themselves and their accounts.
This includes directing them to resources that explain how, among others, to set up two-factor authentication, review security settings, or set up Hidden Words which is an Instagram feature that automatically sends personal message requests containing offensive words, phrases and emojis to a hidden folder.
Investigation remains open
On Monday, Meta – which has more than 250 million monthly users in the European Union – followed up last week's announcement with live displays for each EU country, sorted by relevant keywords, public groups and Instagram accounts, that will enable real-time election-monitoring by researchers, journalists and civil society.
Although the European Commission has welcomed the move, the EU executive said in a statement that "formal proceedings against Meta [still] remain open".
