News agency Reuters has reported that the European Union has warned tech giants Google, Facebook, and Twitter to tackle deepfakes or be ready to face adverse consequences.
As a part of its crackdown against fake news, the European Commission is expected to publish the updated code of practice on disinformation on Thursday.
With responsibility shared between the regulators and signatories to the code, the voluntary code, which was introduced in 2018, will now become a co-regulation scheme.
The signatories will have to tackle the updated code spells out examples of manipulative behaviour such as deepfakes and fake accounts.
According to an EU document, “Relevant signatories will adopt, reinforce and implement clear policies regarding impermissible manipulative behaviours and practices on their services, based on the latest evidence on the conducts and tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) employed by malicious actors.”
When they are used in a political context, deepfakes, which are hyperrealistic forgeries created by computer techniques, have triggered alarm worldwide.
The Digital Services Act (DSA), signed by the 27-country European Union earlier this year, will be linked to this code.
On the basis of DSA rules, companies which fail to live up to their obligations under the code can face fines of as much as 6 per cent of their global turnover.
To provide more transparency on political advertising, signatories will also have to take measures to tackle advertising containing disinformation.
(With inputs from agencies)
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