Scots former MEP backs EU calls for tech giant report in fight against ‘massive wave’ of fake news

Catherine Stihler has backed calls for tech giants to publish reports amid claims of a 'massive wave' of disinformation.

Catherine Stihler, who was a Labour MEP for 20 years and is now the chief executive of the Open Knowledge Foundation, which campaigns against the spread of disinformation, said that the spread of fake news on search engine and social media platforms was a “huge problem” during the pandemic.

Her comments echo those of the European Commission’s vice president for values and transparency, Vera Jourova, who warned that the prevalence of fake news “really showed that disinformation does not only harm the health of our democracies, it also harms the health of our citizens”.

The European Commission today warned of ‘targeted influence operations and disinformation campaigns in the EU, its neighbourhood, and globally’ and called for Google, Facebook and Twitter to provide monthly reports on their fight against the problem.

As well as disinformation about Coronavirus, Ms Jourova raised particular concerns about the impact of fake news on vaccination, citing a study showing that Germans’ willingness to be vaccinated had fallen by 20 percentage points in two months.

In the UK, regulator Ofcom said 38 per cent of people have come across false or misleading information about COVID-19 in the week to the end of May. The most common piece of misinformation was ‘theories linking the origins or causes of COVID-19 to 5G technology’.

A recent opinion poll for the Open Knowledge Foundation found that a majority of people in the UK want ministers to take action against disinformation on social media sites.

Ms Stihler said: “The spread of fake news and disinformation on internet platforms is a huge problem during this global health emergency.

“The EU’s findings make for alarming reading and could have a devastating long-term impact on how society recovers from the coronavirus crisis. The best way to tackle disinformation is to make information open, allowing journalists, scientists and researchers to provide facts to the public.

“Tech giants have a responsibility to increase transparency and work closely with fact checkers, but voluntary action is never going to be enough by itself.”

“The UK Government should take action against social media platforms and the institutions of the EU must use their influence to force online platforms to provide more detailed information allowing the identification of malign actors, put pressure on them to increase transparency, and encourage closer working with fact checkers to prevent the spread of disinformation.”

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