The European Union is fed up with online consumer scams, and it is asking Google, Facebook, and Twitter to do something about them.
Under a directive issued on Friday, the EU will soon require social media companies to remove fraud or scams that appear on their websites as soon as they're made aware of them. The move brings social media in line with the EU's e-commerce laws governing the procedures for removing illegal online content.
The push to hold Facebook, Twitter, and Google accountable for fraud and scams began last fall, and the companies will have one month from Friday to comply with the new rules. In a statement, EU Commissioner Vera Jourova said the rules are necessary given social media's impact on people's daily lives.
"Given the growing importance of online social networks, it is time to make sure that our strong EU rules, that are there to protect consumers from unfair practices, are complied with in this sector," Jourova said.
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American tech companies have long been subjected to the watchful eye of EU regulators, and their illegal actions are often punished with stiff fines or enforcement actions. In this case, however, the EU has taken a softer approach that is likely related to the companies' well-developed ability to filter out objectionable content. Facebook and Google have invested heavily in artificial intelligence algorithms that can detect objectionable content.
By ensuring that the companies add what the EU considers objectionable—scams involving $1 smartphones, for instance—to their watch lists, regulators hope to have an easier time of cleaning up the internet.
Still, the approach isn't perfect, as the companies have failed to deliver on their content-filtering promises before. Google recently admitted that it can do more to prevent ads from being displayed alongside objectionable YouTube videos, and multiple advocacy groups have criticized tech companies for not doing enough to detect and remove hate speech.
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