Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for Internal Market speaks during a signature ceremony regarding the Chips Act at EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, February 8, 2022. (Reuters) |
Alphabet's Google on Saturday barred Russia's state-owned media
outlet RT and other channels from receiving money for ads on their websites,
apps and YouTube videos, similar to a move by Facebook after the invasion of
Ukraine.
In a video call with Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and YouTube
CEO Susan Wojcicki, Breton said the companies should go further.
"Freedom of expression does not cover war propaganda.
For too long, content from Russia Today and other Russian state media has been
amplified by algorithms and proposed as 'recommended content' to people who had
never requested it," Breton said in a statement after the video call.
"War propaganda should never be recommended content -
what is more, it should have no place on online platforms at all. I count on
the tech industry to take urgent and effective measures to counter
disinformation," he said.
Breton said the companies' terms and conditions for users
should be expanded to include war propaganda, giving them the power to kick
violators off their platforms.
The commission said there was agreement to adapt and update
the platforms' policies in view of the current situation.
European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova also took
part in the video call.
"I expect YouTube and Google to step up efforts to
address Russian war propaganda. Russia has weaponised information, this is why
platforms cannot be a space for its war lies," she said in a statement.
Google said it had already taken unprecedented steps to halt
disinformation on Ukraine.
"As we said to the Commissioners, our teams continue to
monitor the situation around the clock and are ready to take further
action," a Google spokesperson said.
Banning accounts promoting war propaganda could be
problematic, however, because of the difficulty of defining what constitutes
propaganda and from whose perspective. © Reuters