Structural Indicators

Signatories commit, under Commitment 41 of the Code, to work within the Task-force to develop Structural Indicators, designed to assess the effectiveness of the Code in reducing the spread of online disinformation for each relevant Signatory and for the entire online ecosystem in the EU and at the Member State level.

To achieve this, signatories established a Working Group in June 2022, following the launch of the new Code. The European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) has created a first proposal for Structural Indicators [link ] to initiate discussions within the Working Group. EDMO’s proposal encompasses six different areas: prevalence, sources, audience, demonetization of disinformation, collaboration, and investments in fact-checking and Code implementation.

In order to ensure a harmonised approach across the main platforms-signatories (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and YouTube), the Working Group issued a call for proposals. As a result, the Working Group decided to contract TrustLab  for an independent analysis of the selected indicators.

In 2024, having explored ways to expand the scope and methodology, for a second study, a fourth EU Member State, France, has been covered. Furthermore, a number of methodological improvements have been made

A dashboard as also been developed that can be seen here

In 2023 the Working Group agreed to focus on a pilot study, comprising a two structural indicators: prevalence and sources of disinformation, and covering three EU Member States: Poland, Spain, and Slovakia.

The TrustLab September 2023 study can be downloaded below

Looking ahead, the Working Group will continue to explore ways to expand the scope and methodology of the Structural Indicators.