{"id":19364,"date":"2020-06-23T07:04:20","date_gmt":"2020-06-23T07:04:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rbsitsoftwaresolution.com\/blog\/tiktok-joins-the-eus-code-of-practice-on-disinformation.html"},"modified":"2020-06-23T07:04:20","modified_gmt":"2020-06-23T07:04:20","slug":"tiktok-joins-the-eus-code-of-practice-on-disinformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rbsitsoftwaresolution.in\/blog\/tiktok-joins-the-eus-code-of-practice-on-disinformation.html","title":{"rendered":"TikTok joins the EU\u2019s Code of Practice on disinformation"},"content":{"rendered":"

TikTok <\/a> is the latest platform to sign up the European Union\u2019s <\/a> Code of Practice on disinformation, agreeing to a set of voluntary steps aimed at combating the spread of damaging fakes and falsehoods online.<\/p>\n

The short video sharing platform, which is developed by Beijing based ByteDance<\/a> and topped 2BN downloads earlier this year<\/a>, is hugely popular with teens<\/a> \u2014 so you\u2019re a lot more likely to see dancing and lipsyncing videos circulating than AI-generated high tech \u2018deepfakes\u2019. Though, of course, online disinformation has no single medium: The crux of the problem is something false passing off as true, with potentially very damaging impacts (such as when it\u2019s targeted at elections; or bogus health information spreading during a pandemic).<\/p>\n

The EDiMA trade association, which counts TikTok as one of a number of tech giant members \u2014 and acts as a spokesperson for those signed up to the EU\u2019s Code \u2014 announced today that the popular video sharing platform had formally signed up.<\/p>\n

\u201cTikTok signing up to the Code of Practice on Disinformation is great news as it widens the breadth of online platforms stepping up the fight against disinformation online. It shows that the Code of Practice on Disinformation is an effective means to ensure that companies do more to effectively fight disinformation online,\u201d said Siada El Ramly, EDiMA\u2019s director general, in a statement.<\/p>\n

She further claimed the announcement \u201cshows once again that internet companies take their responsibility seriously and are ready to play their part\u201d.<\/p>\n

In another statement, TikTok\u2019s Theo Bertram, director of its government relations public policy team in Europe, added: \u201cTo prevent the spread of disinformation online, industry co-operation and transparency are vital, and we\u2019re proud to sign up to the Code of Practice on Disinformation to play our part.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the top-line PR from the platforms\u2019 side.<\/p>\n

However\u00a0earlier this month <\/a>the Commission warned that a coronavirus \u2018infodemic\u2019 had led to a flood of false and\/or misleading information related to the COVID-19 pandemic in recent months \u2014 telling tech giants they must do more.<\/p>\n

Platforms signed up to the Code of Practice must now provide monthly reports with greater detail about the counter measures they\u2019re taking to tackle coronavirus fakes, it added \u2014 warning they need to back up their claims of action with more robust evidence that the steps they\u2019re taking are actually working.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Commission said then that TikTok was on the point of signing up. <\/span>It also said negotiations remain ongoing with Facebook-owned WhatsApp to join the code.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>We\u2019ve reached out to the Commission for any update.<\/p>\n

In the almost two years since the code came into existence EU lawmakers have made repeat<\/a> warnings<\/a> that tech giants are not doing enough to tackle disinformation being spread on their platforms.<\/p>\n

Commissioners are now consulting on major reforms to foundational ecommerce rules which wrap digital services<\/a>, including looking at the hot button issue of content liability and asking \u2014 more broadly \u2014 how much responsibility platforms should have for the content they amplify and monetize? A draft proposal of the Digital Services Act is slated for the end of the year.<\/p>\n

All of which incentivizes platforms to show willingness to work with the EU\u2019s current (voluntary) anti-disinformation program \u2014 or risk more stringent and legally binding rules coming down the pipe in future. (TikTok has the additional risk of being a China-based platform, and earlier this month<\/a> the Commission went so far as to name China as one of the state entities it has identified spreading disinformation in the region.)<\/p>\n

Although the chance of hard and fast regulations to tackle fuzzy falsehoods seems unlikely.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month the Commission\u2019s VP for values and transparency, V\u011bra Jourov\u00e1, suggested illegal content will be the focus for the Digital Services Act. On the altogether harder-to-define problem of \u2018disinformation\u2019 she said: \u201cI do not foresee that we will come with hard regulation on that.\u201d Instead, she suggested lawmakers will look for an \u201cefficient\u201d way of decreasing the harmful impacts associated with the problem \u2014 saying they could, for example, focus on pre-election periods; suggesting there may be temporary controls on platform content ahead of major votes.<\/p>\n

Facebook, <\/a> Google, <\/a> Twitter and Mozilla were among the first clutch of tech platforms and online advertisers to sign up to the Commission\u2019s code back in 2018<\/a> \u2014 when signatories committed to take actions aimed at disrupting ad revenues for entities which spread fakes and actively support research into disinformation.<\/p>\n

They also agreed to do more to tackle fake accounts and bots; and said they\u2019d make political and issue ads more transparent. Empowering consumers to report disinformation and access different news sources, and improving the visibility of authoritative content were other commitments.<\/p>\n

Since then a few more platforms and trade associations have signed up to the EU code \u2014 with TikTok the latest.<\/p>\n

Reviews of the EU\u2019s initiative remain mixed<\/a> \u2014 including the Commission\u2019s own regular \u2018must do better\u2019 report card for platforms. Clearly, online disinformation remains hugely problematic. Nor is there ever going to be a simply fix for such a complex human phenomenon. Although there is far less excuse for platforms\u2019 ongoing transparency failures.<\/p>\n

Which may in turn offer the best route forward for regulators to tackle such a thorny issue: Via enforced transparency and access to platform data.<\/p>\n

\n

So I think the next steps have to focus on<\/p>\n

1 Securing greater transparency + access to data
2 Incentivizing collaboration
3 Investing actual \u20ac\u20ac\u20ac in strengthening independent media<\/p>\n

(That’s leaving aside wider range of policy discussions on competition, data, tax etc)<\/p>\n

12\/15<\/p>\n

\u2014 Rasmus Kleis Nielsen (@rasmus_kleis) June 22, 2020<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Article source: http:\/\/feedproxy.google.com\/~r\/techcrunch\/social\/~3\/Bh8qXPSe7HM\/<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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