In this article, we map, compare and analyse the monthly COVID-19 disinformation monitoring reports that platforms have submitted to the European Commission as part of their commitment to the Fighting COVID-19 Disinformation Monitoring Programme. This monitoring and reporting programme was established from the 2020 Joint Communication “Tackling COVID-19 disinformation – Getting the facts right” to ensure transparency and accountability among platforms and industry signatories to the Code and to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 related disinformation online. For additional assessment of the effectiveness of this reporting programme, see our publication from February: “One Year Onward: Platform Responses to COVID-19 and US Elections Disinformation in Review”. Here, in an effort to assess the commitments of platform signatories towards member states, we focus on the references in the reports to country-level actions to address COVID-19 related disinformation
Our four take-aways are:
- Platform country-level responses focus on prioritizing and amplifying credible content through information displays and free advertising space.
- Platform country-level responses also focus, but to a lesser extent, on media literacy campaigns and fact-checking partnerships.
- Platform responses that limit the spread of content or accounts are not country specific.
- A handful of big member states are prioritised while others are neglected.
Our three action points are:
- Harmonise the reporting. This should include an obligation to clearly highlight new actions in order to facilitate analysis and transparency.
- Require signatories to provide country-specific metrics, especially regarding the audience of disinformation, engagement (clickthrough rate, etc.), funding of in-country fact-checking or research activities, and indicators of the prevalence and strength of in-country civil society relationships.
- Establish a register of beneficiaries of ad-credits detailing amounts granted, spent, as well as report on the impact of these policies.
