European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova is reportedly urging Big Tech companies, such as the video-sharing platform TikTok and social media platform X, to step up in their cleaning efforts and practices to counter illegal hate speech after meeting with TikTok Chief Executive Shou Chew and X's head of global affairs, Nick Pickles.
Jourova, who spearheads the digital economy of the European Union, recently met with the executives of the two companies as information requests made with numerous Big Tech firms were described as having "no new development" regarding the companies' efforts against harmful content last October 26, a Commission spokesperson reportedly told in a separate Reuters report.
Now, Jourova stated on a social media post and via her spokeswoman that she expressed satisfaction with some of the changes and asked TikTok to "continue stepping up" to combat dangerous and illegal material as well as child abuse.
(Photo : LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP via Getty Images)
This picture taken on April 26, 2023 in Toulouse, southwestern France, shows a screen displaying the Tiktok social media platform's logo and the European flag.
These recent meetings follow after the Digital Services Act, where large internet companies and search engines are subject to sanctions unless such Big Tech companies take greater action to combat dangerous and unlawful information.
Jourova, who has already met executives from YouTube and Meta, expresses concern for X as it had insufficient staff speaking EU languages, making the platform's team less effective in countering disinformation. She also showed concern about reports of high numbers of violent and illegal content.
According to Jourova's spokesperson, X's Pickles maintained that violent content had flourished online on various platforms after the Hamas attack, not only on X.
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TikTok's Recent Efforts Against Disinformation
TikTok has previously stated that the removal of millions of posts has been made since the Hamas attack, and a sizable crew has been devoted to eliminating violent content associated with minors.
Recently, Vice President of TikTok's public policy in Europe, Theo Bertram, said that Breton and Chew had a "positive discussion on TikTok's progress" on the DSA. "We continue to engage closely with the Commission on DSA compliance, and we're encouraged that our efforts have not gone unnoticed," Bertram said on social media.
Additionally, a different report states that in September, TikTok released its first transparency report following the implementation of the Digital Services Act (DSA) throughout the European Union, stating that it has removed four million "violative" videos from the platform.
European Union's Thierry Breton has recently stated that the organization is examining whether, following the beginning of an investigation last month, TikTok had taken sufficient steps to comply with the DSA. "Now more than ever, we must spare no effort to protect our citizens, especially children and teenagers, against illegal content and disinformation," he added.
X's Recent Actions on Disinformation Research
X, on the other hand, has recently made it harder for researchers to study disinformation within the platform after Musk's limitations on essential data collection techniques on the international platform have made it significantly harder to track the source and dissemination of false information during live events like the Israeli airstrikes in Gaza and the attack by Hamas on Israel.
Additionally, researchers are straying away from studying the platform after numerous scholars and experts have declared that they are done researching X due to fears of being sued by Musk himself, as reported by Tech Times.
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