Spain threatens big tech firms with fines over spreading disinformation

MADRID (Reuters) -Spain threatened big tech firms such as Google, Meta and Twitter with fines of up to 2% of their global turnovers unless they do more to stop the spread of fake news in the run-up to national elections next year. <br><br>The cabinet approved a bill on Friday that aims to halt disinformation campaigns and hate speech on social media platforms ahead of a general election due by December 2024. <br><br>The draft law says that social media companies with more than one million users in Spain and annual turnovers of more than €50 million would be subject to strict new rules and oversight by the country’s Audiovisual Council of Spain (CSA). <br><br>Those who fail to comply would face fines of up to €2 million or 2% of their global turnover. <br><br>Companies must take "all reasonable measures to prevent disinformation" and review content flagged by users, the government said. <br><br>They will also have to publish information on who is paying for political ads, it said. <br><br>Before elections, companies will be banned from using personal data to create political ads targeting individual voters. <br><br>The draft law seeks to safeguard times of high political intensity such as election campaigns by giving preference to reliable sources of information. <br><br>Companies must "avoid the online spread of disinformation, which can distort public opinion and undermine democratic processes," the government said. <br><br>Spain's government will now pass the draft to parliament, where it is likely to face opposition from right-wing parties.<br><br>"You can’t cut the wings of the platforms to avoid a new election defeat," far-right Vox said in a statement. <br><br>The government did not list which tech firms the rules would apply to. <br><br>Spain is not the first country to try to control the spread of disinformation on social media. <br><br>In July, the European Union issued stricter social media regulations with the Digital Services Act, which aimed to protect users from harmful or illegal online content. <br><br>The EU has also put forward measures to prevent people from being targeted with false or misleading information with the European Code of Practice on Disinformation. <br><br>Spain's neighbours have imposed their own regulations. <br><br>France has the "Avia law" which aims to remove hate speech from social media within 24 hours, while Germany's "NetzDG" law does the same, with social media companies facing fines if they don’t comply. <br><br>The Spanish government has been raising concerns about disinformation campaigns backing far-right parties before next year's elections. <br><br>"The government is committed to protecting the integrity of the electoral process against manipulation, above all by foreign actors," Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Diaz said on Friday. <br><br>Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is expected to call elections in late 2023, with his left-wing coalition facing a tough battle against the right-wing Popular Party and Vox. <br><br>"Spain will not allow a foreign hand to taint our democracy," Sanchez said on Friday.