By Eliza Gkritsi and Julia Tar | Euractiv Est. 3min 05-06-2024 Content-Type: News News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. [Alexandros Michailidis/Shutterstock] Euractiv is part of the Trust Project >>> Languages: Français | DeutschPrint Email Facebook X LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram While MEPs urgently called for measures to address disinformation risks and foreign influence attempts before the EU elections, according to a letter dated 9 April and seen by Euractiv, the European Commission responded just two days before the vote, stating the decision lies with tech platforms. The April letter, addressed to Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager and Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton, was led by the Netherlands’ Kim van Sparrentak (Greens) and Paul Tang (S&D) and signed by 37 other lawmakers from the EPP, Renew, and S&D. Recommendation systems suggest content users see by using algorithms that tailor experiences based on user profiles and behaviour. The MEPs expressed concern that these systems induce anger and push users towards extremist content, thus heightening the spread of misinformation and demoting high-quality content. MEPs suggested turning off personalised recommendation systems by default on very large online platforms, including Meta’s Facebook, and stopping such interaction-based algorithms. The Commission only replied to the letter on 4 June, almost two months after the letter was sent and just two days before the 6-9 June vote. Vestager and Breton said the Digital Services Act (DSA) does not provide a “one-size-fits-approach on risk management concerning recommender systems”, leaving it up to platforms to decide appropriate mitigation measures. Commission probes Meta for violating EU digital rulebook in protection of minors The European Commission initiated an investigation on Thursday (16 May) into whether Meta, Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, has violated the Digital Services Act (DSA) concerning the protection of minors. The DSA, in force since February, is a horizontal legislation regulating how online actors should deal with illegal and harmful content online. The executive is “carefully monitoring VLOPSE’s [Very Large Online Platforms and Search Engines] DSA compliance” and in March released a set of guidelines for digital services to mitigate election risks, the Commissioners said. In their letter, the MEPs only mentioned the DSA to say that their suggested measures could be adopted under its auspices “in guidelines, a reviewed code of practice, as crisis measure or if necessary as new initiatives”. They also did not mention the March guidelines. The measures MEPs proposed could be adopted by the platforms, but any Commission decision to impose such requirements should be adopted “based on facts and high-quality evidence.” Despite what the Commissioners wrote, platforms may soon face stricter rules to limit disinformation. Efforts are underway to make the currently voluntary anti-disinformation charter a mandatory Code of Conduct under the DSA, Vice President Věra Jourová recently told Politico. The Commission also mentioned the proceedings against X and Meta for suspected regulation violations. [Edited by Alice Taylor] Read more with Euractiv Addictive design legislation for Big Tech has legs in next parliament, MEPs sayThe push for legislation to curb addictive design in Big Tech platforms will continue in the next mandate, after June's EU elections, two MEPs who called for such rules told Euractiv.