{"id":152100,"date":"2024-06-06T11:17:40","date_gmt":"2024-06-06T09:17:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cde.ual.es\/?p=152100"},"modified":"2024-06-06T11:17:40","modified_gmt":"2024-06-06T09:17:40","slug":"european-elections-eu-institutions-prepared-to-counter-disinformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cde.ual.es\/en\/european-elections-eu-institutions-prepared-to-counter-disinformation\/","title":{"rendered":"European elections: EU institutions prepared to counter disinformation"},"content":{"rendered":"

The EU institutions are playing their part to defend the European elections on 6-9 June against disinformation and information manipulation targeting European democracy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The European elections are a flagship of European democracy. As documented by e.g. the\u00a0European Digital Media Observatory<\/a>, disinformation actors from inside and outside the EU seek to undermine the integrity of the electoral process, trust in democratic processes at large and sow division and polarisation in our societies. According to the Eurobarometer, 81% of the EU citizens agree that news or information that misrepresent reality or is even false is a problem for democracy.<\/p>\n

Attempts to mislead citizens
\nInstitutions, authorities, civil society actors and fact-checkers such as the European Digital Media Observatory, the European Fact-Checking Standards Network and EUvsDisinfo have detected and exposed numerous attempts to mislead voters with manipulated information in recent months.<\/p>\n

Disinformation actors have pushed false information about how to vote, discouraged citizens from voting, or sought to sow division and polarisation ahead of the vote by hijacking high-profile or controversial topics. Sometimes these attempts to deceive consist in flooding the information space with an abundance of false and misleading information, all with the aim to hijack the public debate. Often top politicians and leaders are targeted by information manipulation campaigns. Several European policies are often target of disinformation: support to Ukraine, the European Green Deal, migration.<\/p>\n

Disinformation actors have also employed networks of fake accounts as well as fake or impersonated media outlets to manipulate the information environment. Recent revelations by the EEAS and national authorities of EU Member States include the False Facade, Portal Kombat and Doppelg\u00e4nger operations.<\/p>\n

Recently an investigative report called “Operation Overload” by Finnish software company Check First documented how suspicious accounts contacted more than 800 fact-checkers and media in over 75 countries – to overload them with false information, drain their resources and try and convince them to spread the false information by way of debunking articles.<\/p>\n

EU institutions: Increased efforts to protect the EU from information manipulation<\/strong><\/p>\n

While the threats are there, so are EU’s collective responses. Based on a clear mandate from the political leadership, the EU institutions have been tackling the challenge stemming from foreign information manipulation and interference, including disinformation for years.<\/p>\n

These efforts take place in close collaboration and coordination between the institutions and with the involvement of a wide range of other stakeholders, such as EU Member States, media and fact-checkers and civil society, in order to share insights, exchange experiences and best practices and coordinate responses.<\/p>\n

Being in the global forefront of addressing threats related to foreign information manipulation and interference, the EU is working in close cooperation with its like-minded partners outside of the EU via fora such as the G7 Rapid Response Mechanism, among others. To raise resilience to external interference attempts, the EU has developed a dedicated toolbox to counter foreign information manipulation and interference, including a set of tools ranging from situational awareness and resilience building to legislation and diplomatic levers. All these efforts always take place in full respect of European fundamental values, such as freedom of expression and freedom of opinion.<\/p>\n

Our comprehensive response to disinformation is centred around the following building blocks:<\/p>\n