Twitter is the biggest channel for Russian disinformation, EU says

The EU said it was monitoring what Twitter, now known as X, was doing. Photo: Emin Sansar/Anadolu Agency

Ilon Musk X, formerly known as Twitter, has been named the biggest source of Russian disinformation as the EU called on social media platforms to increase their vigilance in the fight against Russia's «war of ideas.»

Vera Jurova, European Commission vice-president, urged them take action ahead of national and European elections next year.

“This is a multi-million-dollar weapon of mass manipulation, aimed both within the country and at Russians, as well as at Europeans and the rest of the world,” she said she's on Tuesday.

“Very large platforms need to be mindful of this risk, especially given that we should expect the Kremlin and others to be active ahead of our European elections.”

The EU has published reports on how big tech companies, including Facebook, Google and TikTok have been successful in combating misinformation.

Most major platforms have agreed to work with the bloc on a voluntary code of conduct that aims to set industry standards for fact-checking and other measures. The bloc also implemented a pilot project to assess the scale of the problem.

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X, which is no longer covered by the code, is the platform with the most misinformation or misinformation posts. » said Ms. Zhurova.

She added: «The pilot also showed that disinformation actors had significantly more followers than their non-disinformation counterparts and tended to join platform later than participants who do not promote disinformation. users.»

She noted several steps the platforms have taken to combat Russian influence. Google told the bloc that in the first four months of the year it shut down more than 400 channels involved in influence operations against Russia. Meta, which runs Facebook, said it has expanded fact-checking partnerships in 22 languages ​​in the EU.

The Digital Services Act, a new EU law regulating content on platforms, came into force last month.< /p >

“Since Twitter is recognized as a very large online platform, of course there are obligations under strict legislation,” Ms Jourová said. “That's why I say to Twitter: you have to enforce tough laws, and we're watching what you do.”

She said Russian disinformation is particularly acute in Slovakia, which holds elections on Saturday.

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Slovakia was chosen as a country where there is fertile ground for the success of Russian pro-Kremlin, pro-war narratives,” she said. “This week’s elections will be a test because Russia’s approach to the war in Ukraine is a fault line.”