Fight fake news or be fined: Trudeau tells social media platforms
His government was one of many to sign on to the "Christchurch Call".
PARIS (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said social platforms were "failing their users" on Thursday (May 16), while speaking at the Viva Technology conference in Paris.
He said his government would hold companies to account for fake news, and that they had to make major improvements to their means of dealing with the issue or there would be "meaningful financial consequences."
The prime minister also attended a meeting of world leaders on Wednesday to discuss online extremism, co-chaired by French President Emmanuel Macron and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
His government was one of many to sign on to the "Christchurch Call," a pledge taken by governments and CEOs of tech companies to take action against violent terrorist and extremist content online.
Referring to the Christchurch attacks in New Zealand in which a lone gunman killed 51 people at two mosques and live streamed the event on Facebook, he said it was now "time to talk about policy."
He announced that Canada would be launching a digital charter, touching on principles including universal access and transparency and serving as a guide to craft new digital policy.
Speaking about Canada s upcoming federal election, he said the government was taking steps to eliminate fake news and that a new task force had been created in order to identify threats to the election and prevent foreign interference.
Trudeau assumed the post of prime minister of Canada in November 2015, and will attempt to win a second term later this year.
