EU Council: “Train influencers to protect them, and citizens, from fake news”

Brussels – The European Union Council today (May 14) approved the conclusions on ways to support influencers in the EU. Given the high number of posts published on social networks that end up influencing users’ opinions, the European Union also wants to support content creators with online literacy courses. The idea is to implement influencers’ knowledge of information accuracy so as to prevent the spread, even unintentional, of fake news.

Europeans are spending more and more time online, which means that influencers who create content for social media have an increasing impact on how we perceive and understand the world. The Council’s conclusions note that although influencers already use their technical skills to produce content, they need to implement their media literacy skills. It would enable them to understand the potential negative impact of sharing misinformation and disinformation in addition to the risks of online hate speech, cyberbullying, and other illegal activities.

The Council of the European Union also expresses concern about the rise of ‘kidfluencers’ or influencers under the age of eighteen. In such cases, the role of parents must be insisted upon, including training them on what their duties are to protect young content creators.

In the conclusions, the EU Council encourages member states to engage with influencers and their representative organizations to ensure that they are aware of their role in the media ecosystem and the legislation they refer to. In addition, the EU Council invites the Commission to explore ways to support influencers at the Union level, including through a coherent policy approach focusing on media literacy and responsible online behavior and using existing funds and programs on media education.

The EU Council’s new conclusions go hand in hand with the European Commission’s push to better regulate the role of the influencer. In a recent survey prepared by the Commission and member states, the amount of content that did not comply with the rules of indicating advertising in posts was about 72 percent.

https://twitter.com/EUCouncilPress/status/1790300761840025813