EU to encourage influencers to have 'positive' impact

Brussels, Belgium: The EU announced steps Tuesday to encourage influencers to post content that has a positive impact on society, as concerns rise o...

Brussels, Belgium: The EU announced steps Tuesday to encourage influencers to post content that has a "positive" impact on society, as concerns rise over disinformation in a fragmented information landscape.

With online creators increasingly the preferred source of news and opinions for younger audiences in the European Union, Brussels said they needed to be helped to use their role wisely.

Ministers from EU countries responsible for culture, audiovisual and media issues approved a series of steps to support influencers and make them more aware of their responsibilities.

They called for member countries and the European Commission to educate content creators on EU laws that apply to them and "to understand the potential negative impact of sharing mis- and disinformation, online hate speech, cyberbullying and other illegal or harmful content".

The ministers also said that influencers need to be involved in the writing of EU policies that could impact them, "including the increased use of AI".