EU beefs up disinformation code to prevent digital ad profit

LONDON (AP) — European Union officials have unveiled plans to beef up the bloc’s code of practice on online disinformation with the aim of preventing digital ad companies from profiting off of “fake news.” EU officials said Wednesday they were strengthening the voluntary code to make it more effective at fighting the false information flooding tech platforms. They said they want to cut money off from systemic producers of disinformation. The EU plan calls for digital platforms and ad companies to share information on advertisements that any of them reject for promoting disinformation. Google, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, TikTok and Mozilla are among the tech and social media platforms that have signed up to the code of practice.