EU expresses concern regarding COVID-19 disinformation
The European Commission expressed concern regarding COVID-19 disinformation. The global coronavirus outbreak has been accompanied by a wave of false and unverified information circulating on social platforms. There is special concern with Whatsapp messaging, since information spreads quickest among friend and family groups. The fact that news comes in emotional formats like audio messages and are forwarded by friends or family members might make people more prone to engage with the content. European Commission Vice President Věra Jourová stated that she is worried about the public harm that the spread of false information in this sanitary crisis can cause. Jourová, is currently working on new proposals to protect EU democracies from misinformation and expressed that her office is in regular contact with social media platforms to address the problem.