IANS | 12 Feb, 2024
Google has announced to support the European parliamentary elections
by surfacing high-quality information to voters, safeguarding its
platforms from abuse and equipping campaigns with the best-in-class
security tools and training.
On June 6-9, voters across the 27
member states of the European Union will take to the polls to elect
Members of European Parliament (MEPs).
“Across our efforts, we’ll
have an increased focus on the role of artificial intelligence (AI) and
the part it can play in the misinformation landscape — while also
leveraging AI models to augment our abuse-fighting efforts,” said
Annette Kroeber-Riel, Vice President, Government Affairs and Public
Policy for Europe.
In the coming months, when people search for
topics like ‘how to vote,’ they will find details about how they can
vote — such as ID requirements, registration, voting deadlines, voting
abroad and guidance for different means of voting, like in person or via
mail
“We’re collaborating with the European Parliament which
aggregates information from Electoral Commissions and authorities in the
27 EU member states,” said Google.
All advertisers who wish to
run election ads in the EU on Google platforms are required to go
through a verification process and have an in-ad disclosure that clearly
shows who paid for the ad.
“These ads are published in our
Political Ads Transparency Report, where anyone can look up information
such as how much was spent and where it was shown. We also limit how
advertisers can target election ads,” the company informed.
The company said that to help enforce its policies, AI models are enhancing abuse-fighting efforts.
“With
recent advances in our Large Language Models (LLMs), we’re building
faster and more adaptable enforcement systems that enable us to remain
nimble and take action even more quickly when new threats emerge,”
Google said.
Like any emerging technology, AI presents new
opportunities as well as challenges. For example, generative AI makes it
easier than ever to create new content, but it can also raise questions
about trustworthiness of information, like “deepfakes.”
“We have
policies across our products and services that address misinformation
and disinformation in the context of AI,” Google added.