EU Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection Michael McGrath said social media platforms must respect EU rules to ensure any risk of disinformation is minimised to limit its impact on democracy and elections.
”If you want to do business here in the European Union, and we want all of these platforms to be here within the EU, then our digital rule book must be respected.
“Where risks emerge to civic discourse, to the conflict of elections, to the integrity of our democracy, because of the lack of oversight and safeguards within the platforms, then we have the tools through the Digital Services Act to intervene, and that is why we have opened up a number of different engagements and investigations with platforms to ensure that they fulfill their obligations within the European Union,” Mr McGrath said.
The commissioner said the EU’s Digital Services Act has started investigations led by the Commission into some of the large online platforms to ensure that they are fulfilling their obligations.
‘’They do have an obligation to wider society, to our democracy to uphold the integrity of our elections, while at the same time providing a safe space for people to express themselves freely, even if that means severe criticism of individuals or of decisions that are being made.’’ the commissioner said.
The Digital Services Act was enacted to ensure that the social media platforms follow due process across the 27 member states.
‘’The platforms do have extraordinary power, through the use of recommender systems and the algorithms that are used to amplify certain content and to drown out other content, and in doing so that can have a material impact on the conduct of elections and the integrity of our democratic system.’’
Mr McGrath was speaking at an international event in Dublin organised by the EU Commission to encourage young people under 30 to become more involved in national and EU politics.
‘’We have various ideas and headings that we’re working on at the moment, but the voice of young people here today and around Europe can make a difference.
“It can be included in the new European democracy shield that I will bring forward later this year’’ Mr McGrath said.
