Transparency Tools From Meta, Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet Resulted in 'Disappointment' Ahead of 2024 Elections, Research Says

A new study from Mozilla and CheckFirst concluded that ad transparency tools from Meta, Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, and others are unprepared for misinformation concerns ahead of the 2024 elections.

The study gathered data from Google Search, YouTube, App Store, Bing, LinkedIn, Meta, Pinterest, Snap, TikTok, X, and more from December 2023 to January 2024.

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Research Reveals 'Disappointing' Results for Tech Leaders' Transparency Tools

The European Union's Digital Services Act forced tech giants to open their application programming interfaces (APIs) to the researchers and public for ad transparency until January 1. The mandate allowed people to use the tools to search for information about ad campaigns online.

Based on Mozilla and CheckFirst's research, no platform received the "ready for action" passing mark. The results revealed that some lacked vital data and functionality, while others still had big gaps to fill.

In addition, some platforms only performed at the "bare minimum" as described by the researchers. The platforms' performances were called "a major disappointment."

Regardless, the researchers wrote that they are still considering the situation a "glass half full, and look forward to further improvements."

Social Media Platforms to Face Misinformation Concerns Ahead of 2024 Elections

Social media platform companies must be prepared for a huge surge in usage of their apps. The elections are expected to affect over four billion people in more than 40 countries.

"It is important right now for the platforms to really collaborate, and important for us to push right now, because of the election year," said Amaury Lesplingart, co-founder and CTO of CheckFirst.

Election-related misinformation became a huge problem and issue during the 2016 presidential campaign. Since then, tech giants have been pressured to keep up with the fast-paced spreading of inaccurate content across social media.

Both the government and tech companies are now looking for a solution to mitigate the risk of AI-generated content used in election-related misinformation.

Related Article: Google, OpenAI Chatbots Spreading Misinformation About EU Elections: Politico