Source: European Parliament
As referred to in the response to PQ 853/2025, the Digital Services Act (DSA)[1] requires designated providers of very large online platforms and very large search engines to put in place reasonable, proportionate and effective mitigation measures tailored to systemic risks stemming from the functioning, design and use of their services.
The choice of the mitigation measures is with the providers, as long as the measures are reasonable, proportionate, effective and tailored to the specific risks identified.
This standard applies to centralised fact-checking and decentralised initiatives such as community notes. When implementing such measures, providers are required to consider their actual or foreseeable effects on freedom of expression.
In the EU’s multi-faceted approach to countering threats related to civic discourse and electoral integrity relies on a broad range of independent stakeholders and fully upholds the freedom of expression. In this approach, fact-checking is only one of many elements, next to regulatory and co-regulatory measures, support for media literacy, strategic communication, and research.
In support for stringent standards of integrity and accountability for fact-checking entities, the EU has supported the creation of a code of standards[2], which amongst other objectives aim to ensure non-partisanship, impartiality and financial transparency.
The call for proposal referred to by the Honourable Members requires the participation of a fact-checking organisation certified as independent by such standards as part of the successful consortium and the call’s activities will contribute to promoting and upholding the highest standards for transparency and independence throughout all Member States.
- [1] Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 on a Single Market for Digital Services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC (Digital Services Act).
- [2] See https://efcsn.com/code-of-standards/. The project that led to the creation of the Code of Standards was funded in the course of the Integrity of Social Media call for proposals, https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/funding/call-proposals-integrity-social-media.