L. Gordon Crovitz, former publisher of WSJ and now co-CEO of NewsGuard, in Politico.eu on the EC’s recently adopted anti-disinformation code:

The Strengthened Code of Practice on Disinformation, which was announced in June, continues to inoculate platforms from the known harms they cause, as each one has now been allowed to pick and choose which sections of the code it will be bound by. The result is that the large platforms — except for Microsoft — have all declined to follow key “user empowerment” steps that would sharply limit the spread of disinformation….

Our analysts have so far identified 236 websites spreading disinformation about the war [in Ukraine], including sites like Pravda — which is run by a Putin supporter — and numerous others claiming to be independent think tanks, while failing to disclose the source of their funding. Many of them are operating in multiple languages too, targeting Europe and North America.  

Platforms know what percentage of their users are getting most of their information from unreliable sources. And sharing this information would make clear to users and the public just how much of the news people see in their feeds comes from propagandists and publishers of disinformation. It would, of course, embarrass the platforms as well, which is perhaps why they refuse to provide users or researchers with this data.