Covidcheck: assessing the implementation of EU code of practice on disinformation in relation to Covid-19

CovidCheck is the third monitoring report that has been commissioned by the BAI and prepared by the DCU Institute for Future Media, Democracy and Society (FuJo), on the implementation of the Code in Ireland. Each of these reports has been part of a larger monitoring process undertaken by European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Services (ERGA), at the request of the EU Commission. As with the first two reports, the authors of CovidCheck conclude that, while the Code is a significant first step in fighting disinformation, significant weaknesses in terms of structure, content and enforcement remain to be addressed. This conclusion also underpins the guidance issued by the EU Commission in May 2021 on how the Code should be strengthened by the signatories to become a more effective tool in fighting disinformation.