Microsoft Bing

Report September 2025

Submitted
Microsoft Ireland Operations Limited (MIOL)– the provider of Bing’s services in the European Union (EU) – welcomes the opportunity to file this report on our compliance with the commitments and measures of the strengthened 2022 EU Code of Practice on Disinformation that we subscribed to in our Subscription Document dated 15 January 2025. This report covers the period from 1 January to 30 June 2025 (the “Reporting Period”).    

Bing Search is an online search engine with the primary objective of connecting users to the most relevant search results from the web. Users come to Bing with a specific research topic in mind and expect Bing to provide links to the most relevant and authoritative third-party websites on the Internet that are responsive to their search terms. Therefore, addressing misinformation or disinformation in organic search results often requires a different approach than may be appropriate for other types of online services, as over-moderation of content in search could have a significant negative impact on the right to access information, freedom of expression, and media plurality. 

Bing carefully balances these competing fundamental rights and interests as it works to ensure that its algorithms return the most high-quality content available that is relevant to the user’s queries, working to avoid causing harm to users without unduly limiting their ability to access answers to the questions they seek. In some cases, different features may require different interventions based on functionality and user expectations. 

While Bing’s remediation efforts may on occasion involve removal of content from search results (where legal or policy considerations warrant removal), in many cases, Bing has found that actions such as targeted ranking interventions, or additional digital literacy features such as Answers pointing to high authority sources, or content provenance indicators, are more effective. Bing regularly reviews the efficacy of its measures to identify additional areas for improvement and works with internal and external subject matter experts in key policy areas to identify new threat vectors or improved mechanisms to help prevent users from being unexpectedly exposed to harmful content in search results that they did not expressly seek to find. 

Bing offers numerous generative AI experiences for users. For example, users may see generative search results on the main search engine results page for informational and complex queries. Generative search results are contained and indicated with an icon with the sentence “This summary was generated by AI from multiple online sources. Find the source links used for this summary under "Based on sources".” Users continue to see traditional search results immediately below any generative results. 

Bing also offers a fully generative search experience, previously known as Bing Generative Search and rebranded in April 2025 to Copilot Search. Copilot Search combines the foundation of Bing’s search results with the power of large and small language models (LLMs and SLMs). It understands the search query, reviews millions of sources of information, dynamically matches content, and generates search results in a new AI-generated layout to fulfil the intent of the user’s query more effectively. 

Bing also offers Bing Image Creator and Bing Video Creator. These experiences, powered by the very latest DALL∙E models from our partners at OpenAI, allow a user to create images and videos simply by using their own words to describe the picture they want to see. 

Bing follows the “Trustworthy Search Principles” (found at How Bing delivers search results - Microsoft Support) to guide the product design, experience, algorithms, and mitigation measures that Bing adopts to ensure users’ expectations are met while addressing potential risks or harms arising from use of the service, including across Bing’s GenAI experiences. 

As confirmed by Bing’s Year Two and Three Digital Service Act (DSA) Systemic Risk Assessments, the residual risks most relevant to misinformation and disinformation (i.e. those relating to Civic Discourse and Electoral Process, Public Health and Public Security) are categorised as “Low”. Of note, during the Reporting Period, Bing participated in the Rapid Response Systems activated for the elections in Germany, Romania, Portugal and Poland, and received no notifications during this period. 

Bing supports the objectives of the European Code of Practice on Disinformation (the “Code”) and we are committed to actively working with Signatories and the European Commission in the context of this Code to defend against disinformation on the Bing service.

Unless stated otherwise, data provided under this report covers a reporting period of 1 Jan 2025 to 31 June 2025 (“Reporting Period”).

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Commitment 18
Relevant Signatories commit to minimise the risks of viral propagation of Disinformation by adopting safe design practices as they develop their systems, policies, and features.
We signed up to the following measures of this commitment
Measure 18.2
In line with this commitment, did you deploy new implementation measures (e.g. changes to your terms of service, new tools, new policies, etc)?
No
If yes, list these implementation measures here
N/A
Do you plan to put further implementation measures in place in the next 6 months to substantially improve the maturity of the implementation of this commitment?
No
If yes, which further implementation measures do you plan to put in place in the next 6 months?
N/A
Measure 18.2
Relevant Signatories will develop and enforce publicly documented, proportionate policies to limit the spread of harmful false or misleading information (as depends on the service, such as prohibiting, downranking, or not recommending harmful false or misleading information, adapted to the severity of the impacts and with due regard to freedom of expression and information); and take action on webpages or actors that persistently violate these policies.
QRE 18.2.1
Relevant Signatories will report on the policies or terms of service that are relevant to Measure 18.2 and on their approach towards persistent violations of these policies.
Unlike social media services, for which this Commitment appears primarily oriented, search engines do not typically cause or facilitate the viral propagation of disinformation, as they do not allow users to post or share content directly on the service. Please see How Bing delivers search results and Microsoft Bing Webmaster Guidelines for an overview of how Bing Search designs its algorithms to deliver high authority and highly relevant content while minimizing the negative impact of spam and less credible information sources. Bing Search’s ranking algorithms and related policies are intended to address deceptive tactics intended to manipulate the algorithms and are discussed in more detail at QREs 16.1.1. 

In addition, news and fact-check articles can appear in Bing News carousels, which are often presented at the top of search results pages, depending on the nature of user query. Microsoft maintains agreements with news publishers to surface high authority content, including articles from well-regarded fact checkers and research organizations covering EU/EEA, high in relevant search results.  

Bing’s suggestions features offer possible search queries to users to facilitate a more efficient search experience. While search suggestions are not directly tied to virality of content, Bing Search also undertakes measures to help ensure it does not inadvertently lead users to misleading or other harmful content through suggestions. Specifically, Bing Search uses a combination of proactive and reactive algorithmic and manual interventions to prevent the display of search suggestions that could lead to low authority content.  Users can also adjust and/or deactivate ancillary and supplemental search features, such as search suggestions.

Bing Search also provides a tool for users to provide feedback on suggestions they encounter. The feedback tool is shown below. 

[see pdf report page 19 for screenshot]

Clicking “Feedback on these suggestions” allows users to provide specific feedback on individual suggestions on the below bases:

[see pdf report  page 19 for screenshot]

In Bing’s generative AI experiences, there is generally no risk of viral spread of generated content through Bing because Bing does not allow users to directly post or otherwise share content on the platform. However, Bing has taken steps to prevent the service from being used to create misinformation that might be shared on other platforms through a multipronged approach to mitigations that helps prevent users from creating misinformative content. This system includes terms of use and a code of conduct, classifiers, filters, metaprompting, and robust reporting mechanisms designed to mitigate the risk of potential misuse of the platform. The terms governing usage Bing Image Creator and Bing Image Creator, for example, prohibit users from using the service to generate fraudulent or misleading information, including the creation of disinformation. Bing’s ranking and relevance systems for search, which are an essential component to answering user questions in Copilot Search, work to ensure that high authority content is returned first in search results.  Where Copilot Search systems flag that a user’s prompt or generated output may result in low authority or misleading information, the system will take steps to mitigate that possible harm through solutions, such as not returning generated content to the user, diverting the user to a different topic, or redirecting the user to traditional search. Users who encounter problematic content can report concerns at Microsoft-Report a Concern. 
SLI 18.2.1
Relevant Signatories will report on actions taken in response to violations of policies relevant to Measure 18.2, at the Member State level. The metrics shall include: Total number of violations and Meaningful metrics to measure the impact of these actions (such as their impact on the visibility of or the engagement with content that was actioned upon).
Bing Search does not have data relevant to this SLI. Users come to Bing Search with a specific research topic in mind and expect Bing Search to provide links to the most relevant and authoritative third-party websites on the Internet that are responsive to their search terms. Bing Search does not have a news feed for users of user content, allow users to post and share content within Bing, or otherwise enable content to go “viral” on Bing.