A fake news story claiming that Italy might leave the EU if there was a low turnout at this weekend’s elections shared on Italian social media was taken down by big tech platforms this week.

The story, reported by Facta News, could be a positive example of big tech platforms’ ability to take down fake news information ahead of the 6-9 June European Parliament elections.

Officials and politicians have sounded the alarm over the potential for foreign interference through disinformation, and online platforms are often criticised as unable to deal with the huge influx of fake news.

The photo surfaced as early as 24 May on Facebook, claiming that in case of a “very low turnout” at the EU elections, article 50 of the European Constitution would mandate an immediate referendum on leaving the European Union, reported Facta News. “Don’t vote!” read the last sentence of the screenshot.

It was later shared on TikTok and X.

The disinformation posts were flagged by Italy’s Facta News to social media platforms, the publication told Euractiv. This resulted in TikTok removing some of the posts and Facebook blurring the screenshot, informing users it was fake news.

Facebook and TikTok moderation decisions probably lowered the reach of the fake news story as the post received some 3,000 views on Facebook, Facta News said.

Meta and TikTok confirmed to Euractiv that they acted on the content, either by blurring the screenshots on Facebook or deleting some posts and banning accounts for TikTok. These decisions were taken with Italian fact-checking organisations, spokespeople told Euractiv.

The companies said they could not or did not wish to provide granular information on this fake news story, such as the number of views and reaction times of the moderation decision.

However, the photo is still found, with no disclaimers, in at least one group chat on encrypted messaging app Telegram. The group chat has 2,700 members.

Source: Euractiv.com