TikTok and Meta activated crisis protocols and set up a mechanism with fact-checkers to curb online disinformation linked to the recent surge of migrants trying to reach the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco, the European Commission said.
Henna Virkkunen, the European Commissioner responsible for technological sovereignty, security and democracy, announced the move on Monday evening.
On Tuesday, a Commission spokesperson said the mechanism had put the two platforms in direct contact with fact-checkers familiar with the local context, enabling them to flag problematic content as it appears.
The Commission is seeking to slow the spread of false or misleading information on social media that appears to have encouraged attempts to enter the EU irregularly via Ceuta, Spain’s enclave on the North African coast.
Brussels had already brought together representatives from Meta, TikTok and fact-checking organisations on Friday, and repeated the meeting on Monday.
Virkkunen said on Monday night that the Commission, Europol and the platforms were in daily contact and had stepped up co-ordination, though she gave no further details.
Commission spokesperson Balazs Ujvari said the immediate focus was on the Code of Practice on Disinformation, a tool provided for under the EU’s Digital Services Act and based on voluntary co-operation.
He said the code allows for an ad hoc crisis mechanism such as the one introduced on Monday. Under this system, platforms receive better information from fact-checkers, who can report harmful disinformation more quickly.
“In practice, we are helping the platforms enforce their own rules,” Ujvari said, noting that all major platforms have committed to banning content linked to human trafficking.
The Commission believes the current approach is working, but says it is ready to go further if needed.
On Thursday, Virkkunen is due to meet the working group on the integrity of the information space, which helps oversee implementation of the Digital Services Act in member states.
That meeting will examine whether other tools available under the DSA should be used in response to the Ceuta crisis.
In just a few days at the end of July, tens of thousands of people attempted to cross into Ceuta by land or sea. Dozens died by drowning while trying to swim to the enclave.
According to officials, the sudden movement of people may have been driven at least in part by a rumour circulating on social media claiming that anyone who crosses into Ceuta can then move on into Europe without difficulty.
