Just over a month away from the European parliamentary elections - during a year in which countries with more than half the world's population go to the polls - behind the warning are deep concerns about how Facebook is dealing with fake news.
"The integrity of the election is an enforcement priority," said Thierry Breton, the commissioner for the internal market, warning that the European Commission would be quick to respond if Facebook did not rectify the problems within a week.
"We expect Meta to inform us of the actions they are taking to address these risks in five working days or we will take all necessary measures to defend our democracy," he said.
The commission confirmed it had launched formal proceedings against Meta as the clock ticks down to elections being held across Europe on 6 to 9 June.
The commission is extremely concerned that Russia will use Facebook, which has more than 250 million active users a month, to try to swing votes in its favour.
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