S&Ds: we need global measures to protect our democracies from the power of Big Tech

It is a fact: social media platforms are increasingly affecting the wellbeing of our democracies as much as that of our citizens. The spread of disinformation is a crucial problem from which not a single democracy across the globe is spared. Earlier this year, the Commission detected 50,000 fake accounts and bots on X (formerly Twitter) promoting disinformation narratives against the German Government.

The recent scandal around Elon Musk and Brazil show to what extent big techs try to behave without impunity before the law. Besides that, an increased use of social media by the youth is having an impact on sleep disorders, anxiety, depression and self-esteem problems.

During the plenary debate 'Global measures towards social media platforms - strengthening the role of DSA and protecting our democracy and freedom in the online sphere', the socialists and democrats in the European Parliament will support the UN's call for the enforcement of worldwide norms to ensure that social media platforms cannot be big machines benefitting at the expense of our democracies.

Alex Saliba, S&D vice-president for communication, campaigns and digital Europe, said:

"Social media is a powerful tool. The recent wave of violent riots in the UK after the spread of disinformation online, and Elon Musk's decision not to comply with Brazilian court orders leading to the partial blocking of X in the country, are other examples of how tech giants are increasingly behaving with impunity before governments and the courts. Social media companies need to be held more accountable for their role in spreading disinformation. The Digital Services Act represents the EU's first brick to protect ourselves against the spread of disinformation and to preserve our democracies from such influences. But, we cannot do this alone. This is why we call on the EU to continue in the steps of the DSA and follow the UN Secretary's call to set global measures to protect our democracies worldwide against the digital Wild West that social media platforms have become."

Christel Schaldemose, EP vice-president, S&D MEP and former EP rapporteur on the Digital Services Act, said:

"Under the leadership of the socialists and democrats, in 2022 the EU adopted the most ambitious regulation on online platforms to protect consumers and users, the Digital Services Act (DSA). With this new regulation, we made sure that not only what is illegal offline would also be illegal online. We are still at the initial stages of the enforcement of DSA. But we will keep working with the Commission to make sure that the DSA remains the main tool to assess social media platforms' negative effects on democracy and the protection of mental health among others. Taking into account the EU's geopolitical interest in the defence of democratic systems across the world, this is a crucial moment to reflect on how the DSA rules could contribute to define global standards for social media platforms."

Laura Ballarin, S&D MEP and coordinator on the committee on internal market and consumer protection, said:

"The Digital Services Act (DSA) has become a crucial vaccine in Europe to fight against the two greatest impacts of social media. One is the impact to our youth's mental health, especially that of young girls by the harmful content online. The other is the impact to our democracies and freedom because we are suffering a pandemic of disinformation and we must never forget that there is no freedom in disinformation and fake news. Europe is leading the world to protect citizens online, but we need everyone else on board. We need to work closely with our allies to build international standards to stop the law of the jungle that is reigning online."