BRUSSELS, Belgium: The EU said Tuesday Meta and TikTok had agreed to voluntary steps to boost fact-checking of harmful disinformation linked to the Ceuta migrant rush — but did not rule out compelling the tech giants to do more.
Experts say social media disinformation helped drive the deadly rush of 72,000 migrants from Morocco into Spain’s north African territory late last month — with for instance a rumor that “the Ceuta border is open” spreading like wildfire online.
The European Commission said it had increased coordination with Meta and TikTok alongside the European police force Europol, and set up a mechanism helping the platforms to better cooperate with local fact-checkers.
“The platforms confirmed that they activated their crisis protocols and... it was decided that an ad-hoc escalation and cooperation mechanism would be put in place,” a spokesman for the bloc’s executive, Balazs Ujvari, told reporters.
“For now, we think that this is an effective tool. But of course, if needed, we are ready to go further,” he added.
