布鲁塞尔——欧盟周二呼吁美国总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)帮助起草一份共同的规则手册，以控制Facebook和Twitter等大型科技公司的权力，打击正在侵蚀西方民主政体的虚假新闻的传播。
在达沃斯世界经济论坛的一次演讲中，欧盟委员会主席乌尔苏拉·冯·德·莱恩敦促拜登政府联合起来反对“数字世界的黑暗面”，她说这是1月6日国会山“震惊”的部分原因。
冯德莱恩说:“在线平台的商业模式不仅对自由公平的竞争有影响，而且对我们的民主、安全和信息质量也有影响。”“这就是为什么我们需要遏制大型数字公司的这种巨大力量。”
她敦促白宫加入27国集团的努力，表示“我们可以共同创建一个在全球范围内有效的数字经济规则手册”，并将包括数据保护、隐私规则和关键基础设施的安全。
冯德莱恩表示，欧盟希望科技巨头承担责任，“它明确规定，互联网公司应对其传播、推广和删除内容的方式负责。”
去年12月，欧盟委员会(European Commission)提出了两项新的欧盟立法，以更好地保护消费者及其在线权利，使技术平台更加负责任，并改善数字竞争，以欧盟的数据保护规则为基础，这些规则是世界上最严格的规则之一。
“我们希望平台对他们的算法如何工作是透明的，”冯·德·莱恩说。“因为我们不能接受对我们的民主有深远影响的决定是由计算机程序单独做出的。”
冯·德·莱恩还提到了本月早些时候脸书和推特做出的切断总统的决定唐纳德·特朗普这是一个前所未有的举动，突显了科技巨头在监管言论方面的巨大力量。
她说:“无论推特关闭特朗普总统的账户有多诱人，对言论自由的如此严重干涉不应该仅仅基于公司规则。”"这种影响深远的决定需要有一个法律框架。"
特朗普在推特和脸书上的永久停牌，促使欧盟成员国匈牙利推出自己的监管社交媒体公司的措施。
匈牙利司法部长周二表示，大型科技公司可能面临匈牙利政府的监管，她称之为对社交媒体的“蓄意的、意识形态的”审查。
司法部长尤迪特·沃尔高在脸书的一篇帖子中写道，政府将对科技巨头实施限制，她说这些巨头任意让在线平台的用户保持沉默，包括政府州领导人的账户——这是指推特和脸书决定永久暂停美国前总统的职务唐纳德·特朗普在他的支持者于1月6日对美国国会发起攻击后。
沃尔高呼吁科技公司“透明和可控的运作”，并表示她将在春天就此事向匈牙利议会提交一份法案，以打击她所说的“系统滥用言论自由”
匈牙利的下一届议会选举定于2022年。最近的民意调查显示，执政的Fidesz党和六党反对派联盟之间的竞争非常激烈。
特朗普的盟友匈牙利总理维克托·奥尔班(Viktor Orban)被指控监督该国媒体整合到与他的政党有联系的商业利益集团手中。
在匈牙利公共媒体缺乏报道的情况下，反对党利用社交媒体接触潜在选民。欧洲安全与合作组织2018年的一份报告发现选举那一年的“特点是国家和执政党资源的普遍重叠”和媒体偏见。
上周，沃尔高声称科技公司“限制基督教、保守派、右翼观点的可见性”，并且“全球科技巨头背后的权力集团”有能力决定选举。她声称自己曾被Facebook“影子封禁”，Facebook是指社交媒体平台在用户不知情的情况下限制用户个人资料或帖子的可见性。
Facebook的一名代表告诉当地媒体，该公司没有干预沃尔高的账户。Facebook没有立即回应置评请求。
EU urges US to draft joint rule book to rein in tech giants
BRUSSELS -- The European Union called Tuesday on U.S. President Joe Biden to help draw up a common rule book to rein in the power of big tech companies like Facebook and Twitter and combat the spread of fake news that is eating away at Western democracies.
In a speech to the Davos World Economic Forum, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen urged the Biden administration to join forces against “the darker sides of the digital world,” which she said was partly behind the “shock” storming of Capitol Hill on Jan. 6.
“The business model of online platforms has an impact and not only on free and fair competition, but also on our democracies, our security and on the quality of our information,” von der Leyen said. “That is why we need to contain this immense power of the big digital companies.”
She urged the White House to join the 27-nation bloc’s efforts, saying that “together, we could create a digital economy rule book that is valid worldwide,” and would encompass data protection, privacy rules and the security of critical infrastructure.
Von der Leyen said the EU wants the onus put on the tech giants, with “it clearly laid down that internet companies take responsibility for the manner in which they disseminate, promote and remove content.”
In December, the European Commission proposed two new pieces of EU legislation to better protect consumers and their rights online, make tech platforms more accountable, and improve digital competition, building on the bloc’s data protection rules, which are among the most stringent in the world.
“We want the platforms to be transparent about how their algorithms work,” von der Leyen said. “Because we cannot accept that decisions that have a far-reaching impact on our democracy are taken by computer programs alone.”
Von der Leyen also referred to the decision earlier this month by Facebook and Twitter to cut off President Donald Trump from their platforms for allegedly inciting the assault on the U.S. Capitol, an unprecedented step that underscored the immense power of tech giants to regulate speech.
“No matter how tempting it may have been for Twitter to switch off President Trump’s account, such serious interference with freedom of expression should not be based on company rules alone,” she said. “There needs to be a framework of laws for such far-reaching decisions.”
Trump’s permanent suspension from Twitter and Facebook is prompting EU member Hungary to push its own measures to regulate social media companies.
Hungary’s justice minister said Tuesday that large tech companies might face Hungarian government regulation over what she called “deliberate, ideological” censorship on social media.
In a Facebook post, Justice Minister Judit Varga wrote that the government would move to place restrictions on tech giants that she said arbitrarily silence users of online platforms, including the accounts of government state leaders - a reference to decisions by Twitter and Facebook to permanently suspend former U.S. president Donald Trump after his supporters mounted an assault on the U.S. capitol on Jan. 6.
Varga called for the “transparent and controllable operation” of tech companies, and said she would submit a bill on the matter to Hungary’s parliament in the spring to counter what she called their “systematic abuse of free speech.”
Hungary’s next parliamentary election is scheduled for 2022. Recent polls showed a tight race between the ruling Fidesz party and a six-party opposition coalition.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a Trump ally, has been accused of overseeing the consolidation of the country’s media into the hands of business interests with ties to his party.
Opposition parties have used social media to reach potential voters amid a lack of coverage in Hungary’s public outlets. A 2018 report by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe found that national elections that year “were characterized by a pervasive overlap between state and ruling party resources” and media bias.
Last week, Varga claimed that tech companies “limit the visibility of Christian, conservative, right-wing opinions,” and that “power groups behind global tech giants” were capable of deciding elections. She alleged that she had personally been “shadow banned” by Facebook, a term referring to social media platforms restricting the visibility of users’ profiles or posts without their knowledge.
A representative for Facebook told local media that the company had not interfered with Varga’s account. Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
