Disinformation and foreign information manipulation and interference are a serious threat to our societies. They can undermine democratic institutions and processes (such as elections) by preventing people from making informed decisions or discouraging them from voting. And they can polarise societies by pitting communities against each other.
New technologies have made it possible for hostile actors to spread disinformation and to manipulate information at a scale and with a speed never seen before.
Therefore, tackling disinformation and information manipulation is one of the most pressing issues for the European Union and its Member States.
With over half the world taking part in elections this year, 2024 will be an important year for democracy. On 6-9 June 2024, around 400 million EU citizens will have the chance to vote for their representatives in the European Parliament.
How are we responding?
The European Commission is strengthening its strategic communication in response to disinformation and foreign information manipulation and interference targeting EU policies. This requires a whole of society approach, as many sectors of our societies have an important role in play in preventing and countering disinformation. Beyond this response, it is important to ensure that citizens have access to quality news and information they can trust.
Our response to disinformation is centred around:
- Developing policies to strengthen our democracies, make it more difficult for disinformation actors to misuse online platforms, and protect journalists and media pluralism
- Raising awareness about disinformation and our preparedness and response
- Building societal resilience against disinformation through media literacy and fact-checking
- Cooperating with other institutions, national authorities or third parties
Main fields of action
Promoting free and fair elections, protecting public debate and countering disinformation through the Democracy Action Plan and Defence of Democracy Package
Ensuring that platforms take responsibility in countering disinformation, thanks to the Digital Services Act, the Code of practice on disinformation, the AI Act, and transparency of political advertising
Anti-SLAPP and Media Freedom Act: new rules in place to protect media pluralism and independence in the EU
Debunking common myths and narratives, exposing disinformation tactics and countering Russia’s systematic information manipulation and ensuring preparedness in case of cyberattacks
Enabling citizens to navigate the modern news environment, providing guidance for tackling disinformation through education and helping teachers and young people recognise and stop it
Supporting Europe's independent communities working to combat disinformation and ensuring public access to fact-checked and trust-worthy data and information
Awareness raising is key to our approach to highlighting and debunking false information.
This includes communication to explain the risks of disinformation, or the most common methods used by disinformation actors, as well as tips to detect disinformation.
EUvsDisinfo
Launched in 2015 by the EU’s diplomatic service, the European External Action Service (EEAS), EUvsDisinfo is a flagship project to identify, analyse and raise awareness of disinformation in its different shapes and forms, with a focus on common narratives and tactics from the Kremlin.
Read more on what the EEAS is doing to counter disinformation
Sanctions against Kremlin media outlets
Russia has engaged in a large-scale campaign of disinformation in its attempt to destablise the European Union and its Member States.
To counteract this, the EU has adopted sanctions against the Kremlin's disinformation and information manipulation assets and actors.
Cyberattacks can happen at the same time as, and even be coordinated with, disinformation campaigns, and can be part of a wider strategy to influence or destabilize democratic processes.
Boosting cybersecurity and related awareness is also part of the resilience-building. EU countries cooperate to prepare for potential cyber threats. They are supported by EU institutions, bodies and agencies, such as the EU Agency for Cybersecurity or the Computer Emergency Response Team for the EU institutions, bodies and agencies.
Media literacy is important for building societal resilience against disinformation. The capacity to access, have a critical understanding of the media and interact with it, is crucial.
Media literacy enables citizens to navigate the modern digital news environment and make well-informed choices. It is especially important that we learn how to recognise disinformation from an early age; as such, education forms a crucial role in ensuring a media-literate public.
The revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) seeks to ensure that Member States promote and take measures that develop media literacy skills and to report on these measures.
We have also made available resources to support Member States, educators and organisations to contribute to the fight against disinformation.
Fact-checking is a crucial pillar of our approach to disinformation. Fact-checkers help assess and verify content to provide the public with accurate, reliable information they can trust.
To promote fact-checking and raise awareness of fact-checked information to citizens, we are supporting independent fact-checkers.
The European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) is a project that supports an independent multidisciplinary community, composed of for fact-checkers, academics, media literacy practitioners and other relevant stakeholders, joining forces to fight disinformation. The EDMO network provides a comprehensive geographic coverage of the EU. In view of the upcoming European elections, EDMO has set up a dedicated task force to detect and alert about the spread of disinformation around the elections. The task force will issue daily updates about debunked disinformation (fact-checks), weekly updates with disinformation trends as well as early warnings and relevant investigations. EDMO will also conduct a media literacy campaign, “Be Elections Smart”.
The European Fact-Checking Standards Network (EFCSN) is an independent association of European fact-checking organisations that upholds and promotes the highest standards of fact-checking and media literacy to combat misinformation for the public benefit. EFCSN and its verified members work to promote access to fact-checked trustworthy information and to educate the public in how to assess the accuracy of information in the public sphere.
Timeline of EU actions against disinformation
- March 2024
The Commission publishes guidelines under the Digital Services Act for Very Large Online Platforms and Search Engines to mitigate risks online that may impact the integrity of elections, with specific guidance for the European Parliament elections in June 2024
- March 2024
A new Cybersecurity compendium on how to protect integrity of elections is published
- December 2023
The Commission adopts the Defence of Democracy Package ahead of the 2024 European elections
- October 2023
The Commission publishes a call for proposals to support EU fact-checkers in identifying and debunking disinformation
- October 2022
The Commission publishes guidelines for teachers and educators in primary and secondary schools on how to address disinformation and promote digital literacy in their classrooms
- September 2022
The Commission presents a proposal for the European Media Freedom Act
- June 2022
A strengthened Code of Practice on Disinformation is signed by major online platforms, emerging and specialised platforms, players in the advertising industry, fact-checkers, research and civil society organisations
- November 2021
The Commission presents a proposal for new laws on transparency and targeting of political advertising
- December 2020
The Commission presents a proposal for the Digital Services Act
- December 2020
The Commission establishes its European Democracy Action Plan
- June 2020
The European Digital Media Observatory is launched
- March 2019
The EEAS launches its Rapid Alert System
- December 2018
The Commission and the EEAS establish an Action plan against disinformation
- September 2018
The first Code of Practice against disinformation is established
- September 2018
The Commission publishes a Communication on securing free and fair European elections
- April 2018
The Commission publishes a Communication on tackling online disinformation
- April 2016
A Joint Framework on countering hybrid threats is adopted to counter hostile actions designed to destabilise a region or a state
- January 2015
Launch of the EEAS East StratCom Task Force to address Russian disinformation campaigns