EU elections: Why has European Commission launched investigation into Facebook and Instagram amid disinformation fears?

The investigation will look into fears that Meta platforms are not doing enough ahead of the European Union elections later this year

The European Commission has launched an investigation into Meta's Facebook and Instagram over concerns the platforms are failing to counter disinformation ahead of European Union elections in June.

What is the investigation about?

The European Union said it is scrutinising Facebook and Instagram over a range of suspected violations of the bloc’s digital rulebook, including not doing enough to protect users from foreign disinformation ahead of EU-wide elections.

Facebook and Instagram are the subject of a European Commission probe. Picture: AFP via Getty Images

The EU’s Executive Commission said it is opening formal proceedings into whether parent company Meta Platforms breached the Digital Services Act (DSA), a sweeping set of regulations designed to protect internet users and clean up social media platforms.

Brussels has been cracking down on tech companies since the DSA took effect last year, opening investigations into social media sites TikTok and X, as well as e-commerce platform AliExpress.

The commission said it is looking into whether Meta is doing enough to curb the spread of “deceptive advertisements, disinformation campaigns and coordinated inauthentic behaviour” that could pose a risk to “electoral processes” and consumer protection.

European Commission executive vice-president Margrethe Vestager said: "We suspect that Meta's moderation is insufficient, that it lacks transparency of advertisements and content moderation procedures.”

Why is Meta believed to be potentially in breach of the rules?

Officials said it did not appear the company had an effective mechanism for content moderation, including for advertisements made with generative AI, including deepfakes – a shortcoming they said appears to have been exploited by malicious actors for foreign interference.

The EU also suspects Facebook and Instagram might be reducing the visibility in recommendation feeds of political content from accounts that pump out a lot of it – a practice known as shadow banning – and not being transparent about it with users, which would be in violation of the DSA.

A third concern is Meta is phasing out the use of Crowdtangle, a tool used for real-time election-monitoring used by researchers, journalists and civil society.

EU officials are taking measures to safeguard elections as citizens of the bloc’s 27 nations prepare to vote for lawmakers in June. The commission is also investigating whether Meta’s mechanism for users to flag illegal content is good enough under the DSA, because it suspects that method isn’t easy to access and user-friendly.

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What have the companies said?

The European Commission is giving Meta five days to respond with information on any “remedial measures” it is taking to make up for changes. TikTok last week bowed to EU pressure and halted a reward feature on its new app after the commission started demanding answers about it.

Meta said it would co-operate with the investigation, but said its process for checking the risks of disinformation were robust.

“We have a well established process for identifying and mitigating risks on our platforms,” Meta said. “We look forward to continuing our co-operation with the European Commission and providing them with further details of this work.”