EU calls on US to create common rule book against 'darker sides of digital world'

The European Union (EU) has called on the United States President Joe Biden to assist for developing a common rule book to limit the “immense power” of the tech giants including Facebook and Twitter to tackle the spread of fake news that has now begun impacting the western democracies. During a speech to the Davos World Economic Forum, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen urged Biden to join hands against the “darker sides of the digital world” which she also said was behind the “shock” attack on US Capitol on January 6.

“The business model of online platforms has an impact and not only on free and fair competition but also on our democracies, our security and on the quality of our information,” von der Leyen said. “That is why we need to contain this immense power of the big digital companies.”

She called the US for joining 27-nation-bloc in the efforts and said, “together, we could create a digital economy rule book that is valid worldwide,” and would encompass data protection, privacy rules and the security of the critical infrastructure.

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EU wants tech giants to take responsibility

In the same address, European Commission president said that the EU wants the onus put on the tech giants with “it clearly laid down that internet companies take responsibility for the manner in which they disseminate, promote and remove content.” This came after the European Commission in December proposed two new laws to elevate consumer protection and their rights online by making tech giants more accountable.  

“We want the platforms to be transparent about how their algorithms work,” von der Leyen said. “Because we cannot accept that decisions that have a far-reaching impact on our democracy are taken by computer programs alone.”

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“No matter how tempting it may have been for Twitter to switch off President Trump’s account, such serious interference with freedom of expression should not be based on company rules alone,” she added. “There needs to be a framework of laws for such far-reaching decisions.”

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