Amidst increasing complaints, mainly from small and medium market players, the European Commission is launching a series of initiatives to promote fairness in platform to business relations. The initiative is part of a wider strategy to promote transparency and fairness in the Digital Single Market, including countering the recent scourge of fake news.
Social media are gaining ground from printing press as a source of information for an increasing number of citizens. The tidal wave of malicious propaganda and fake news is a huge source of unregulated revenues and poses a direct threat to businesses, business models and consumers alike. Recognizing that the current pattern of news reporting is not sustainable, the European Commission has called for a counter initiative on misinformation with an alignment of policy, legislative and technological measures.
The new strategy is seeking to find a balance between fundamental political and economic rights and the citizen’s right to access reliable information, while it’s expected to raise the regulatory stakes for major online platforms in case they refuse to comply and cooperate. The European Commission has launched public consultations exploring the scope of future actions and it appears willing to adopt an aggressive strategy to tackle fake news by recently allocating funds to the taskforce countering online disinformation. The proposals will most likely not only affect social media operators but also businesses.