Reuters reveals EU wants firm pledges from tech giants in fake news fight

Reuters revealed that Facebook, Alphabet unit Google and other tech giants will have to pledge to do more to curb the monetization of false information through advertisement placements, according to a European Commission document. The EU also wants smaller social media or search services, private messaging services, ad exchanges, ad-tech providers, communication agencies and e-payment services, e-commerce platforms and crowdfunding/donation systems to commit to do the same. The proposal is one of several that aim to address shortcomings in the voluntary code of practice on disinformation introduced in 2018 and to which Google, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, Mozilla and TikTok have signed up.