The European Union has appointed 39 so-called experts to a “High Level Group” for an investigation into fake news and “online investigation,” a news release from the European Commission states.
Dr. Madeleine de Cock Buning will chair the investigation, which will be tasked in advising the EU on the “phenomenon of fake news, defining the roles and responsibilities of relevant stakeholders, grasping the international dimension, taking stock of the positions at stake, and formulating recommendations.”
A number of representatives from various tech companies — including Google, Twitter, and Facebook — will also serve as members of the commission. Other members include various journalists, civil servants, representatives from media companies.
The commission is part of the EU’s broader “Fake News initiative” which aims to “design solutions to address the spread of fake news” and notes that “false information [can] contain elements which are illegal under EU or national laws.”
As the Washington Examiner notes in a Tuesday editorial, the EU’s announcement comes in the midst of an effort by French President Emmanuel Macron to give the government greater power to censor stories it deems inaccurate or dangerous. If such powers are granted, the French government would be granted emergency powers to shut down websites it deems guilty of spreading so-called fake news.
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