In June, EU citizens will elect a new European Parliament to
pass policies and laws in the region and lawmakers fear the spread of
misinformation online could sway voters.
France, Poland and Germany accused Russia on Monday of
putting together an elaborate network of websites to spread pro-Russian
propaganda.
Europe's Digital Services Act, which comes into force this
week, will require very large online platforms and search engines to do more to
tackle illegal content and risks to public security.
From March, Google's internal Jigsaw unit which operates to
tackle threats to societies, will run a series of animated ads across platforms
such as TikTok and YouTube in five EU countries: Belgium, France, Germany,
Italy, and Poland.
Building on previous campaigns the company has tested in
Germany and central Europe, Jigsaw said the new project was an opportunity to
reach citizens in countries with some of the largest number of voters in the
EU, utilising the company's local expertise in these regions.
The ads will feature so-called "prebunking"
techniques, developed in partnership with researchers at the Universities of
Cambridge and Bristol, aimed at helping viewers identify manipulative content
before encountering it.
Viewers watching the ads on YouTube will be asked to fill in
a short multiple-choice questionnaire, designed to gauge what they have learned
about misinformation.
"We've spent so much time having these really polarised
debates. Our democracy is at stake, and the temperature just keeps getting
higher and higher," said Beth Goldberg, head of research at Jigsaw.
"Prebunking is the only technique, at least that I've
seen, that works equally effectively across the political spectrum,"
Goldberg said.
Other measures to control misinformation like fact checking
can add to polarisation because they come after the information has already
spread, she added.
Last month, an investigation conducted by the EEAS (European
Union External Action Service) uncovered 750 incidents of misleading
information being deliberately spread by foreign actors, many voicing support
for Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Jigsaw's ads will be translated into all 24 official EU
languages, the company said.
The campaign will run for at least one month, with a view to
extend it based on reach and performance. Results from the campaign, including
survey responses and the number of people reached, are expected to be published
in summer 2024.
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