The Facts
- The European Commission (EC) has, under the Digital Services Act (DSA), called for "Very Large Online Platforms" and "Very Large Search Engines" to "mitigate systemic risks," such as artificial intelligence (AI) deepfakes, ahead of upcoming European Union (EU) elections in June.
- Affected companies include Facebook, X, YouTube, and TikTok. The EC's guidelines require political ads and deepfakes to be labeled on the platforms.
- The EC has released guidelines concerning how mitigation and compliance with the DSA may occur. While the guidelines are not legally binding, the EC has stated that companies must prove that other measures are "equally effective," and that stress tests to platform provisions will be carried out in April.
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The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
Deepfakes and other forms of disinformation threaten the integrity of the upcoming European elections. The June contests will likely be the target of foreign interference and hybrid attacks so protective measures must be put in place. It is imperative that social media platforms do their best to regulate this content on their sites and mitigate the risks to the election.
Establishment-critical narrative
The DSA is an enormous example of government overreach. While it's admirable that the EU is attempting to set rules that could provide some order to the internet, these powers can be used to infringe on the free speech rights of Europeans and others and unfairly censor the content on social media platforms.
Metaculus Prediction
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