European Commission announces plans to combat fake news
The European Commission has revealed two plans to help Member States fight disinformation and promote democracy: the European Democracy Shield and the EU Strategy for Civil Society.
The European Democracy Shield sets out a series of measures to empower, protect, and promote strong and resilient democracies across the EU. Its goal is to boost Europe’s capacity to counter disinformation and fake news, which have proven to be major factors in the course of public debate and tensions among people.
The plan presents action across three main pillars:
(1) Safeguarding the integrity of the information space;
(2) Strengthening democratic institutions, elections, and independent media; and
(3) Boosting societal resilience and citizens’ engagement.
The EU Strategy for Civil Society aims to improve engagement, protection, and support for civil society organizations that play an essential role in European democratic societies by contributing to policymaking, delivering social and community services, raising awareness about important social issues, and representing diverse groups in vulnerable situations.
“Democracy is the foundation of our freedom, prosperity, and security,” Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, says in a statement.
“The European Democracy Shield will reinforce the core elements that allow citizens to live our shared democratic values every day: free speech, independent media, resilient institutions, and a vibrant civil society. This is Europe’s strength and we must increase our collective capacity to protect it at all times,” she adds.
“Liberal democracy is under attack. We see campaigns, including those by Russia, specifically designed to polarize our citizens, undermine trust in our institutions, and pollute politics in our countries. The new European Democracy Shield is part of Europe’s response to protect the ingredients of our democracies: free media, fact-based debate, and fair elections. If we want democracy to prevail, we have to defend it better,” Kaja Kallas, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, complements Von der Leyen.
For these plans to succeed, American tech companies like Google, Meta, Microsoft, and X will have to go the extra mile to tackle harmful content. For this end, the executive branch of the EU will prepare a Digital Services Act (DSA) incident and crisis protocol to facilitate coordination among relevant authorities and ensure swift reactions to large-scale and potentially transnational information operations.