Microsoft

Report March 2025

Submitted

Your organisation description

Advertising

Commitment 1

Relevant signatories participating in ad placements commit to defund the dissemination of disinformation, and improve the policies and systems which determine the eligibility of content to be monetised, the controls for monetisation and ad placement, and the data to report on the accuracy and effectiveness of controls and services around ad placements.

We signed up to the following measures of this commitment

Measure 1.1 Measure 1.2 Measure 1.3 Measure 1.4 Measure 1.5 Measure 1.6

In line with this commitment, did you deploy new implementation measures (e.g. changes to your terms of service, new tools, new policies, etc)?

If yes, list these implementation measures here



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?



If yes, which further implementation measures do you plan to put in place in the next 6 months?



Measure 1.1

Relevant Signatories involved in the selling of advertising, inclusive of media platforms, publishers and ad tech companies, will deploy, disclose, and enforce policies with the aims of: - first avoiding the publishing and carriage of harmful Disinformation to protect the integrity of advertising supported businesses - second taking meaningful enforcement and remediation steps to avoid the placement of advertising next to Disinformation content or on sources that repeatedly violate these policies; and - third adopting measures to enable the verification of the landing / destination pages of ads and origin of ad placement.



QRE 1.1.1

Signatories will disclose and outline the policies they develop, deploy, and enforce to meet the goals of Measure 1.1 and will link to relevant public pages in their help centres.



SLI 1.1.1

Signatories will report, quantitatively, on actions they took to enforce each of the policies mentioned in the qualitative part of this service level indicator, at the Member State or language level. This could include, for instance, actions to remove, to block, or to otherwise restrict advertising on pages and/or domains that disseminate harmful Disinformation.



Country Type of Action 1 Type of Action 2 Type of Action 3 Type of Action 4
Austria 0 0 0 0
Belgium 0 0 0 0
Bulgaria 0 0 0 0
Croatia 0 0 0 0
Cyprus 0 0 0 0
Czech Republic 0 0 0 0
Denmark 0 0 0 0
Estonia 0 0 0 0
Finland 0 0 0 0
France 0 0 0 0
Germany 0 0 0 0
Greece 0 0 0 0
Hungary 0 0 0 0
Ireland 0 0 0 0
Italy 0 0 0 0
Latvia 0 0 0 0
Lithuania 0 0 0 0
Luxembourg 0 0 0 0
Malta 0 0 0 0
Netherlands 0 0 0 0
Poland 0 0 0 0
Portugal 0 0 0 0
Romania 0 0 0 0
Slovakia 0 0 0 0
Slovenia 0 0 0 0
Spain 0 0 0 0
Sweden 0 0 0 0
Iceland 0 0 0 0
Liechtenstein 0 0 0 0
Norway 0 0 0

Permanent Task-Force

Commitment 37

Signatories commit to participate in the permanent Task-force. The Task-force includes the Signatories of the Code and representatives from EDMO and ERGA. It is chaired by the European Commission, and includes representatives of the European External Action Service (EEAS). The Task-force can also invite relevant experts as observers to support its work. Decisions of the Task-force are made by consensus.

We signed up to the following measures of this commitment

Measure 37.1 Measure 37.2 Measure 37.3 Measure 37.4 Measure 37.5 Measure 37.6

In line with this commitment, did you deploy new implementation measures (e.g. changes to your terms of service, new tools, new policies, etc)?

Yes

If yes, list these implementation measures here

Microsoft has actively engaged in and contributed to the work of the Task-force and relevant Subgroups and Working Groups that were active during the reporting period.

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?

Yes

If yes, which further implementation measures do you plan to put in place in the next 6 months?

Microsoft is committed to continuing its active engagement in and contribution to the Task-force and service relevant Subgroups and Working Groups in the upcoming six-month period.

Measure 37.6

Signatories agree to notify the rest of the Task-force when a Commitment or Measure would benefit from changes over time as their practices and approaches evolve, in view of technological, societal, market, and legislative developments. Having discussed the changes required, the Relevant Signatories will update their subscription document accordingly and report on the changes in their next report.

QRE 37.6.1

Signatories will describe how they engage in the work of the Task-force in the reporting period, including the sub-groups they engaged with.

Microsoft has actively engaged in and contributed to all the Task-force Plenary meetings as well as to the meetings of all Subgroups and Working Groups active in the current reporting cycle under the Task-force. 

As part of each Subgroup and Working Group that has taken place during the reporting period, Microsoft has actively contributed to the development of the deliverables that were collectively agreed.

Microsoft has continuously engaged with all Signatories of the Code, offering its perspectives on issues unique to its subscribed services and responding to ad-hoc inquiries related to various actions taken by its subscribed services. Microsoft appreciates the added value and insights that the Task-Force has created for each Signatory individually as well as the collective community of Signatories. Microsoft looks forward to continue its constructive cooperation within the Code of Practice’s governance framework as relevant.

Monitoring of the Code

Commitment 38

The Signatories commit to dedicate adequate financial and human resources and put in place appropriate internal processes to ensure the implementation of their commitments under the Code.

We signed up to the following measures of this commitment

Measure 38.1

In line with this commitment, did you deploy new implementation measures (e.g. changes to your terms of service, new tools, new policies, etc)?

Yes

If yes, list these implementation measures here

A dedicated cross-company team continues to ensure proper tracking and compliance with the Code of Practice across all applicable geographical areas, consisting of relevant product members from all subscribed services, attorneys, members of the European Government Affairs team and Democracy Forward Team. Budget items from across Microsoft teams have been used to ensure compliance including ongoing investment in trusted third parties. 

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?

Not applicable

Measure 38.1

Relevant Signatories will outline the teams and internal processes they have in place, per service, to comply with the Code in order to achieve full coverage across the Member States and the languages of the EU.

QRE 38.1.1

Relevant Signatories will outline the teams and internal processes they have in place, per service, to comply with the Code in order to achieve full coverage across the Member States and the languages of the EU.

Microsoft has a dedicated cross-company team to ensure proper tracking and compliance with the Code of Practice across all applicable geographical areas, consisting of relevant product members from all subscribed services as well as relevant lawyers, members of the European Government Affairs team and Democracy Forward Team. In addition, we implemented an internal tracking process that captured all relevant commitments, responsible entity and persons responsible for compliance with the Code of Practice. Moreover, regular review of new product features take place to assess potential impacts and compliance under the Code.

Commitment 39

Signatories commit to provide to the European Commission, within 1 month after the end of the implementation period (6 months after this Code’s signature) the baseline reports as set out in the Preamble.

We signed up to the following measures of this commitment

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

This Commitment is only relevant for the Baseline Reports, which were provided to the European Commission in January 2023. 

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?

Not applicable

Commitment 40

Signatories commit to provide regular reporting on Service Level Indicators (SLIs) and Qualitative Reporting Elements (QREs). The reports and data provided should allow for a thorough assessment of the extent of the implementation of the Code’s Commitments and Measures by each Signatory, service and at Member State level.

We signed up to the following measures of this commitment

Measure 40.1 Measure 40.2 Measure 40.3 Measure 40.4 Measure 40.5 Measure 40.6

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

Not applicable

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?

Not applicable

Commitment 41

Signatories commit to work within the Task-force towards developing Structural Indicators, and publish a first set of them within 9 months from the signature of this Code; and to publish an initial measurement alongside their first full report.

We signed up to the following measures of this commitment

Measure 41.1 Measure 41.2 Measure 41.3

In line with this commitment, did you deploy new implementation measures (e.g. changes to your terms of service, new tools, new policies, etc)?

Yes

If yes, list these implementation measures here

The second report on Structural Indicators by TrustLab was published in September 2024. 

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?

Not applicable

Commitment 42

Relevant Signatories commit to provide, in special situations like elections or crisis, upon request of the European Commission, proportionate and appropriate information and data, including ad-hoc specific reports and specific chapters within the regular monitoring, in accordance with the rapid response system established by the Task-force.

We signed up to the following measures of this commitment

In line with this commitment, did you deploy new implementation measures (e.g. changes to your terms of service, new tools, new policies, etc)?

Yes

If yes, list these implementation measures here

During the reporting period, Microsoft has been an active participant in and contributor to the Task-force’s Elections Working Group, in particular in view of elections that took place in the EU as well as in the context of ongoing discussions towards an Elections Rapid Response System. 

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?

Yes

If yes, which further implementation measures do you plan to put in place in the next 6 months?

Microsoft will continue its participation in the Task-force’s Crisis Response Subgroup and Elections Working Group, as relevant. 

Commitment 43

Relevant Signatories commit to provide, in special situations like elections or crisis, upon request of the European Commission, proportionate and appropriate information and data, including ad-hoc specific reports and specific chapters within the regular monitoring, in accordance with the rapid response system established by the Taskforce.

We signed up to the following measures of this commitment

In line with this commitment, did you deploy new implementation measures (e.g. changes to your terms of service, new tools, new policies, etc)?

Yes

If yes, list these implementation measures here

Microsoft has provided its March 2025 Report in accordance with the revised Harmonised Reporting Template and underlying methodologies as jointly developed by Signatories in the Monitoring and Reporting Subgroup under the Code’s Task-force. 

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?

Yes

If yes, which further implementation measures do you plan to put in place in the next 6 months?

Microsoft will continue its active engagement in the respective Task-force Subgroups to keep the Harmonised Reporting Template and underlying methodologies up to date, where necessary in view of its experience with reporting. 

Commitment 44

Relevant Signatories that are providers of Very Large Online Platforms commit, seeking alignment with the DSA, to be audited at their own expense, for their compliance with the commitments undertaken pursuant to this Code. Audits should be performed by organisations, independent from, and without conflict of interest with, the provider of the Very Large Online Platform concerned. Such organisations shall have proven expertise in the area of disinformation, appropriate technical competence and capabilities and have proven objectivity and professional ethics, based in particular on adherence to auditing standards and guidelines.

We signed up to the following measures of this commitment

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

Not applicable

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?

Not applicable