Foreign
THE EU on Wednesday urged social media platforms to do more to counter harmful health hoaxes and conspiracy theories linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, much of it from Russia and China.
According to a new communication from the European Commission, EU experts have observed a massive wave of poor health care advice, false claims and online scams, and attempts by foreign actors to intervene in domestic EU debates.
“For example, some groups have pushed dangerous assertions that drinking bleach could cure the new coronavirus.
“Belgium’s Poison Control Centre has recorded an increase of 15 percent in the number of bleach-related incidents,” the experts said.
Brussels has pushed social media platforms to promote official information sources and remove dangerous misleading content.
However, it expected companies like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube-owner Google to do more, such as compiling monthly reports.
Commission Vice President Vera Jourova said, “we know only as much as platforms tell us, which is not good enough,” said on Wednesday in Brussels.”
The EU has been actively raising attention to misinformation since 2015, with a programme that mainly focuses on pro-Kremlin sources.
However, in the wake of Covid-19, the EU started expressing concern about China’s official narratives surrounding the pandemic.
The new report names “foreign actors”, namely Beijing and Moscow, that took part in campaigns to undermine the democratic debate in the EU, sometimes focused on polarizing debates and at times, trying to promote their own image. (dpa/NAN)
– Jun. 10, 2020 @ 14:19 GMT |
Tags: China amid flood of virus disinformation EU accuse Russia
