The European Commission Will Open Investigation Of Meta On Alleged Lack Of Disinformation Handling

JAKARTA The European Commission, on Monday 29 April, is ready to open an investigation into Meta Platforms, the company that manages Facebook and Instagram, over concerns that the company is not making enough efforts to counter disinformation from Russia and other countries. This was first reported by the Financial Times.

Regulators suspect that Meta moderation is insufficient to stop the widespread spread of political advertising at risk of damaging the election process, which the European Commission hopes to announce on Monday, according to a report citing two people familiar with the matter.

However, the Commission is not expected to blame Russia directly in its statement and will only mention information manipulation by foreign actors, the Financial Times reported last Monday.

"We have an established process of identifying and reducing risks on our platform. We look forward to continuing our cooperation with the European Commission and providing them with more details on this work," a Meta spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, the European Commission declined to comment on it. Dozens of countries, including the United Kingdom, Austria, and Georgia, will elect a new leader by 2024. The European parliamentary election is also scheduled for June.