Moderation: social networks will have to be more “transparent”, warns Arch

The regulator of online platforms, former CSA, calls Twitter, Tiktok, Meta or Google to further detail their efforts to combat infox or hate speeches.

By Alexandre Piquard

“On transparency, the balance sheet is very mixed,” summed up Lucile Petit, who directs the direction of online platforms at the Arch. The ex-CSA, which has become a regulator of online services, presented its third assessment of the application by social networks on Monday on the 2018 information manipulation law. This text invites Twitter, Meta (Facebook, Instagram) , Google (YouTube, Google.fr) or Tiktok to detail with Arcom the actions and means used to combat the spread of false information, in particular.

“There is progress and some have made efforts to make more precise answers. But the platforms remain generally too discreet about the reality of phenomena, summed up M me small. They give too few figures. This raises a question about their ability to measure and fight disinformation. “

In detail, Tiktok was particularly pointed out for his first year of answer to the questionnaire: his “particularly imprecise” declaration is “out of step with the very important place taken by the platform, especially among young people” , regretted the member of the college of Arcom Benoit Loutrel, warning that the “status quo” was not possible.

anxiety about Twitter

Twitter has been greeted for having long made access to some of his data for external researchers, an effort that Arch would like to see imitated by other platforms. But, apart from this point, the regulator did not hide his concern on the social network bought by Elon Musk. After the dismissal of more than half of the workforce, Arch wrote to the company to ask it to specify how it intended to fulfill its content moderation obligations.

“We received an answer on time, Thursday at 5 p.m., which was not obvious given the turbulent state of the platform [since his takeover], explained President Roch-Olivier Maistre. The mail makes a political assertion on the desire to comply with the regulations. But he left us on our hunger regarding the concrete translation of this speech within the Twitter teams. We will enter into dialogue with Twitter to have details. “

In this declaration as in its general speech, the Arch prevents the platforms that they will be subjected to increasingly strong pressure. Indeed, what is lacking in the law on manipulation is a “sanctioning power” -“the invisible hand of the digital market is not sufficient,” explained Mr. Maistre -, but it will be introduced in the European regulation Digital Services Act, warned the regulator.

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/Media reports cited above.