Berlin urges tech firms to do more to stop disinformation ahead of vote

Reuters
Germany's interior minister told social media platforms on Wednesday to do more to prevent disinformation before next month's election, such as clearly identifying political advertising and labelling videos manipulated with AI.

Nancy Faeser met representatives of the U.S.-based Google, which owns YouTube; Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram; Microsoft; X; and TikTok, owned by China's ByteDance, as debate rages in the U.S. about whether regulating online platforms suppresses free speech.

Meta Platforms, for example, scrapped its U.S. fact-checking programs this month and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, said he would work with U.S. President Donald Trump to push back on censorship around the world, including in Europe.

X's billionaire owner Elon Musk, who has used his platform to promote the far-right Alternative for Germany, is one of Trump's leading advisors.

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