Hundreds of thousands of high school and university students have rallied in France, Italy, Spain, Belgium and other European countries in recent weeks, with some protests descending into violence.
More than 30 members of the European Parliament (MEPs) co-signed a letter from EU lawmaker Stephanie Yon-Courtin to the bloc’s tech chief Henna Virkkunen, calling on Brussels use its digital content rules to get answers from platforms.
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“These events have raised serious questions about the role that social media may have played, whether through calls to gather, the livestreaming of incidents or the circulation of images through recommender systems, as well as about any revenue such content may have generated,” they said.
The MEPs from across the political spectrum urged the EU to demand data about the spread of illegal content and what role the algorithms played.
They also want to EU to activate “crisis” mechanisms under the Digital Services Act (DSA) that give Brussels the power for “targeted and proportionate measures”.
This could include suspending services as a last resort, they added.
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The EU executive should also boost efforts to protect minors, “who are the most exposed to this kind of contagion”, the lawmakers warned.
The European Commission only confirmed it had received the letter, but earlier on Friday, spokesman Thomas Regnier said national authorities had the power under the DSA to seek information themselves from platforms.
“The commission is ready to support and to also play its role if there is a systemic dimension,” Regnier said.
