Fake news and disinformation campaigns have been booming not only since the Corona pandemic and the war in Ukraine. For a long time, external actors, such as Russia or China, have been trying to influence democratic processes in the EU and undermine the liberal model of democracy. The same applies to internal actors, e.g. anti-European and extremist groups, as well as media outlets, which contribute to the spread of disinformation in the EU. The use of new technologies such as artificial intelligence and social media platforms has increased the spread of fake news in its extent, nature and reach. Deepfakes, filter bubbles, and echo chambers are increasingly being used to deceive and manipulate, which in turn fuels the social and political polarization of society.

In the run-up to the European elections in June 2024, an increase in disinformation campaigns and attacks on democracy is also to be expected – a danger that should not be underestimated and must be countered in good time.

Fake News – What is it actually? Who are the main actors spreading disinformation in the EU? What is the EU’s role in the fight against disinformation? Which measures are working well and where is there still room for improvement – especially in the run-up to the 2024 European elections? To what extent are we all affected by disinformation and what can individuals do to recognize fake news and distinguish it from reputable information?

These and other questions were discussed on 23 October 2023 at the House of the European Union by Lutz Güllner (connected online) – Head of Unit, Strategic Communication, Task Forces and Information Analysis/European External Action Service (EEAS), Ljudmyla Melnyk, Project Manager and Research Associate, Institute for European Politics (Berlin), Corinna Milborn – Author, Journalist, Moderator. Head of Information at ProSieben, Sat1, PULS4, Dietmar Pichler – Disinformation Resilience Network and Andreas Schieder – MEP/Member of the Special Committee on Foreign Interference in All Democratic Processes in the European Union, including Disinformation, and on Strengthening Integrity, Transparency and Accountability in the European Parliament (ING2). The event was moderated by ÖGfE Secretary General Paul Schmidt.

Welcome: Anna Knyazeva, Head of Citizen Contacts, Networks and Outreach, Representation of the European Commission in Austria

The risk that the 2024 European elections will be manipulated by fake news is estimated by experts to be great. However, there is also the “relatively good news that we no longer see the massive influence” as in the 2016 US election “at least no longer in this form. But that doesn’t mean that the danger has been averted,” says Lutz Güllner. The aim is to comprehensively uncover disinformation and to be able to respond to it. To achieve this, the EU must continue to invest in this area. Ultimately, this is a social task that cannot be solved by governments alone.

A few months ago, his team uncovered a new tactic that Russia in particular was using for disinformation, Güllner said. This consists of cloning websites in which media such as the “Guardian” or the “Spiegel” are reproduced exactly, content is changed and then massively shared. For laymen, such forgeries are indistinguishable. However, Güllner warns: “Disinformation is not just a problem of social media.” Think tanks and non-governmental organisations are also the target of disinformation campaigns, and supposed information platforms are set up “to get as much volume as possible”.

Disinformation analyst Dietmar Pichler sees the European elections as a “major challenge, fuelled by the war in Ukraine”. For example, the sanctions against Russia are a European issue, and Russia is trying to exert influence through the right-wing parties. “It’s going to get worse,” Pichler said. In the United States, aid to Ukraine has become a major contentious issue, and disinformation from influencers in the United States is already being seen. The EU elections and the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine in particular are complex issues, where “an excess of disinformation collides with a lack of information”.

“The problem is much bigger than we realize,” warned MEP Andreas Schieder. This was demonstrated in the European Parliament in the context of the work of the Special Committee on Foreign Interference (INGE). The brutal attack by the radical Islamic Hamas on Israel and the Gaza war has given the issue “another dimension.” “There needs to be a disclosure of the algorithms,” Schieder said, calling for stricter regulation of social media. With the Digital Service Act (DSA), which came into force at the end of August, the EU has for the first time a handle to delete fake news, but this is “not enough”.

There is a structural reason why lies spread better than the truth, and this is the algorithm, journalist and author Corinna Milborn also emphasized. She also considers the danger of disinformation in the European elections to be “very high, it is growing exponentially”. Technological capabilities are increasing, platforms like TikTok are unregulated, and geopolitical crises in Ukraine and the Middle East are coinciding with the rise of the new right in the U.S., which is using social media to destroy trust in democracy. “We are facing a big disinformation machine and we don’t have any instruments in our hands,” Milborn said.

Lyudmyla Melnyk, a Ukrainian researcher at the Berlin Institute for European Politics, said Russia was trying to create a new reality through disinformation campaigns by state media. Ultimately, Moscow wants to “rob Ukraine of its subjectivity”, i.e. destroy any statehood. The fact that NATO is portrayed as a threat to Russia is only “a backdrop”. For Ukraine, “the disinformation war began in 2014”, the year of Russia’s annexation of Crimea in violation of international law. Melnyk described the fact that there is little knowledge about Ukraine’s history among the Western public as a hindrance. She also criticized the long discussions in Germany about arms deliveries to Kyiv.

So-called “debunking”, i.e. direct exposure of fake news, must be done, said Güllner. “But fact-checking has a problem,” says the expert. “He’s always on the defensive.”