The European Commission has taken decisive action in response to concerns over Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, potentially breaching the Digital Services Act (DSA). Commission President Ursula von der Leyen emphasized the Commission’s commitment to safeguarding European citizens from targeted disinformation and manipulation. She underlined the need for big digital platforms to fulfill their obligations in order to maintain the integrity of democratic elections.
The investigation focuses on Meta’s policies and practices in relation to deceptive advertising and political content, as well as the availability of effective third-party tools for real-time civic discourse and election monitoring. The Commission has expressed suspicion over Meta’s compliance with DSA requirements and identified potential shortcomings in areas such as content moderation, transparency of advertisements, and access to publicly available data for researchers.
Commission Vice-President for the Digital Age, Margrethe Vestager, stressed the crucial nature of trust in online content, highlighting the risks associated with deceptive advertising. She raised concerns about Meta’s moderation practices and transparency, emphasizing the need for platforms to provide effective user redress mechanisms.
The current proceedings are focusing on three main areas of concern:
1. Deceptive Advertisements and Disinformation: The Commission suspects that Meta may not be fully compliant with DSA requirements in addressing the dissemination of deceptive advertisements, disinformation campaigns, and coordinated inauthentic behavior within the EU. The proliferation of such content poses potential risks to civic discourse, electoral processes, fundamental rights, and consumer protection.
2. Visibility of Political Content: Meta’s ‘political content approach’, which impacts the visibility of political content on Instagram and Facebook, is under scrutiny for potential non-compliance with DSA obligations. The investigation aims to assess the compatibility of this policy with transparency and user redress requirements, as well as its impact on civic discourse and electoral processes.
3. Availability of Real-time Civic Discourse and Election Monitoring Tools: The Commission has raised concerns over the deprecation of Meta’s public insights tool, CrowdTangle, without an adequate replacement. Given the upcoming European elections and other Member State elections, the lack of such real-time monitoring tools could have implications for civic discourse, electoral processes, and the transparency provided to relevant stakeholders.
If established, these failures would constitute serious infringements of the DSA. The Commission will conduct an in-depth investigation as a matter of priority, with the opening of formal proceedings signaling the potential for further enforcement steps and the acceptance of commitments from Meta to address the issues raised.
The Digital Services Act, which applies to all online intermediaries in the EU, sets high standards for platforms like Facebook and Instagram. As Very Large Online Platforms, these companies must comply with a range of obligations, and the Commission will continue to work diligently to ensure that they meet these standards.
As the investigation unfolds, the Commission will gather evidence and engage with Meta to address the identified concerns. The ultimate aim is to uphold the integrity of online platforms and protect the rights and interests of European citizens.
Market Capital Research 