European Union has warned Facebook ,Google and Twitter to take more steps to curb the fake news or would face  regulatory action.

The threat by the EU executive came a year after the U.S. tech giants together with Mozilla, Microsoft  and seven European trade bodies signed up to a voluntary code of conduct to combat fake news in a move aimed at warding off intrusive rules.

The Commission is now drawing up regulations known as the Digital Services Act. This will set out liability and safety rules for digital platforms, services and products, a move which has already triggered fears in the tech industry of heavy-handed intervention.

The companies’ actions helped limit interference in the European Parliament elections in May and provided greater transparency around political ads, the European Commission, the bloc’s executive body said. But large-scale automated propaganda and disinformation persist and more work needs to be done, it added.

“We cannot accept this as a new normal,” EU Commissioners Vera Jourova, Julian King and Mariya Gabriel said in a joint statement.

The commission  published the last of its regular reports monitoring companies’ efforts to abide by a voluntary code of conduct to fight disinformation agreed ahead of the European parliamentary elections in May. The EU said progress varied a lot between the signatories.

They called on the companies to cooperate with more independent bodies. An independent consultant hired by the Commission will publish its assessment early next year, followed by the EU executive’s own study.

The EU said there is an urgent need for online platforms to establish meaningful cooperation with a wider range of independent researchers and grant them access to data.

The commission said it would present a report on the 2019 elections to the European Parliament in the coming months and, on that basis, publish a comprehensive assessment early next year before deciding on any legislation.

The Commission is now drawing up regulations known as the Digital Services Act. This will set out liability and safety rules for digital platforms, services and products, a move which has already triggered fears in the tech industry of heavy-handed intervention.