EU drafts guidelines to protect democratic elections
This comes after several companies have called on the European Commission and the European Parliament to do everything in their power to ensure Big Tech are complying with EU regulations.
The executive body of the European Union has initiated the creation of guidelines aimed at Big Tech platforms. The goal is to thwart the impact of disinformation, hate speech, and counterfeits on the democratic election process. With over a third of the global population heading to the polls this year, the influence of tech giants is increasingly under examination.
The guidelines seek to provide best practices
The guidelines, the first of their kind, seek to provide Very Large Online Platforms and Search Engines with best practices, as stated by the Commission on Thursday.
At the beginning of this week, the European Union initiated a public consultation, allowing stakeholders until March 7 to provide feedback. EU policymakers are urging tech giants to develop measures for risk mitigation, particularly addressing the threat posed by AI-generated content.
This year will witness national elections in Portugal, Belgium, Croatia, Romania, and Austria, along with European Union parliamentary elections in June. Additionally, the United States will hold presidential elections, and various other countries, including Mexico, South Korea, Ghana, are also set to conduct ballots.
Big Tech need to safeguard fair elections
Highlighting the vulnerability of the electoral period in the EU to hybrid attacks and foreign interference, EU Commissioner Thierry Breton underlined the importance of tech platforms playing their role in safeguarding free and fair elections.
Earlier this month, the EU sent inquiries to more than a dozen tech companies, including Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Alphabet’s Google, seeking information on the measures taken to provide researchers access to relevant data for the upcoming EU and national elections.
