EU to draft guidelines for Big Tech to safeguard democratic elections

The European Union’s governing body has initiated the development of guidelines aimed at Big Tech platforms to combat disinformation, hate speech, and counterfeit activities that could disrupt democratic elections.

With over a third of the global population set to participate in elections this year, there’s increasing scrutiny on the power and influence wielded by tech giants.

Described as the inaugural set, these guidelines aim to offer best practices to Very Large Online Platforms and Search Engines, as stated by the Commission on Thursday.

The EU commenced a public consultation at the beginning of the week, allowing stakeholders until March 7 to provide feedback. EU policymakers are urging tech giants to devise risk mitigation strategies, particularly in response to the menace posed by AI-generated content.

This year will witness national elections in Portugal, Belgium, Croatia, Romania, and Austria, alongside European Union parliamentary elections scheduled for June. The U.S. presidential elections are slated for later this year, along with ballots in Mexico, South Korea, Ghana, India and numerous other countries.

Highlighting the vulnerability of the electoral period to hybrid attacks and foreign interference, EU Commissioner Thierry Breton called on tech platforms to play their part in safeguarding free and fair elections during his remarks on Wednesday.

Earlier this month, the EU reached out to over a dozen tech companies, including Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Alphabet’s Google, seeking details on the measures they’ve implemented to grant researchers access to relevant data for the forthcoming EU and national elections.