Ukraine, Poland and six other countries are calling on Meta and other tech giants to fight disinformation
Amid growing concern about the insidious effects of disinformation from Russia, the prime ministers of eight European countries – including Ukraine, Moldova and Poland – signed an open letter urging the chief executives of major social media companies to take more aggressive steps to stop the spread of fake news on their platforms.
As reported by the New York Times, the open letter from the eight prime ministers called on the tech giants to take more aggressive steps to fight misinformation on their platforms. The prime ministers expressed concern about the destabilizing effects of fake news from Russia, particularly about the war in Ukraine.
Their letter called on Metta leaders and other companies to take action "against disinformation that undermines our peace and stability" and called on them to end efforts "to weaken our support for Ukraine in the face of a Russian war of aggression." Prime Ministers also called for more coordinated regulation by governments.
National leaders call on tech companies for better self-regulation; devote more resources to responding to false narratives; adjusting algorithms to prioritize truth over engagement; and clearly flagging deep fakes and automated posts – including those produced by AI
"Technology platforms like yours have become virtual battlegrounds, and hostile foreign powers are using them to spread false narratives that contradict fact-based news reports," they wrote. Paid ads "are often used to incite social unrest, bring violence to the streets and destabilize governments," they said.
Technology leaders, including Elon Musk, have warned that the technology could pose "profound risks to society and humanity".
Source: Civil