Marc Serafino
We know how blockchain can be used by major companies to streamline their global operations. The finance industry is among the first ones to adopt the technology and so are major manufacturers, which want to use it for better tracking of their vast supply chains.
In the public sector, we have heard about several projects that aim to rely on blockchain for identification purposes, and now we have the European Commision (EC) looking for decentralized solution to fight the fake news.
A critical part of the fight against fake news?
The European Commission (EC) has decided to use blockchain as part of its framework to combat the spread of false information online, according to a recent TechCrunch report. The technology will play a pivotal role in the “Code of Practice on Disinformation,” which EC intends to introduce by summer 2018.
In the recent press release, EC describes blockchain as one of “emerging technologies which are changing the way information is produced and disseminated, and have the potential to play a central role in tackling disinformation over the longer term.”
EC goes on to suggest that blockchain applications can help provide transparency, reliability, and traceability of news on the Internet — and can also be combined with other identification processes.
Innovative technologies, such as blockchain, can help preserve the integrity of content, validate the reliability of information and/or its sources, enable transparency and traceability, and promote trust in news displayed on the Internet. This could be combined with the use of trustworthy electronic identification, authentication and verified pseudonyms…
Part of the bigger picture
The idea to embrace blockchain comes on the heels of another report, published in March by the EC High-Level Expert Group (HLEG), that calls for more transparency from online platforms to fight the spread of false information online. The Commission is now looking to collect all the information and develop the EU-wide Code of Practice on Disinformation that is set to be published by July 2018.
Elsewhere in the “EU blockchain world,” the technology is being included in the research activities of EU’s research funding body Horizon 2020 Work Programme, which is considered “the biggest EU research and innovation funding programme ever.”
Additionally, on April 11 – the EC announced the signing of a Declaration to create a European Blockchain Partnership made up of 22 countries. And related to that we had EC Vice-President Andrus Ansip urging the EU to take action in blockchain development in an effort to make Europe a world leader in digital innovation.
All these efforts combined gotta count for something. Or so we think…
