Brussels is planning a crackdown on social media companies accused of “fake news” in the wake of a so-called scandal in which Facebook was allegedly used to help populist campaigns.
According to the Financial Times, the European Commission has warned that Eurosceptic “disinformation” threatens to “subvert our democracy” after it was claimed the harvested data of social media users helped boost Brexit and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign via targeted messaging.
European security commissioner Jonathan King has ordered the creation of a “clear game plan” on how social media companies will operate during election periods, calling for information on algorithms used to promote stories, disclosure of content sponsors and restrictions on the harvesting of personal data for political purposes.
“Psychometric targeting activities” are just a “preview of the profoundly disturbing effects such disinformation could have on the functioning of liberal democracies”, King said in a letter to Mariya Gabriel, EU commissioner for the digital economy.
