Fake news and disinformation are flourishing not only since the beginning of the COVID 19-pandemic and the war in Ukraine. External actors, such as Russia and China, have been trying to negatively influence democratic processes in the European Union and undermine the liberal model of democracy already for a long time. The same goes for internal actors, e.g. eurosceptical and extremist groups as well as certain media outlets, who contribute to spreading disinformation in the EU. These trends are further amplified by social media platforms and the use of artificial intelligence. Deep fakes, filter bubbles and echo chambers are used to deceive, influence and manipulate people’s perceptions, thus increasing social and political polarization in society.
In the run-up to the European Parliament elections in June 2024, a rise of disinformation campaigns and attacks on democratic and European electoral processes are expected – a risk which should not be underestimated and must be tackled in due time.
Disinformation – what does it mean? Who are the main actors spreading fake news within the EU? Which role does the EU play in the fight against disinformation? Which measures work well, where is the need for improvement? How strongly are we, as citizens, affected by disinformation in our daily life and what can every one of us do in order to recognise fake news and distinguish them from trustworthy information?
To discuss these issues and more, ÖGfE and TEPSA co-organised the RADAR Youth lab which took place on Monday, 13th November 2023 in Vienna.
What was the aim of the Youth Lab?
The Youth lab was a one-day interactive workshop. It aims at giving young people the opportunity to discuss disinformation, its impact on democratic processes, especially with regard to the 2024 European Parliament elections, while also enabling a proactive participation through policy drafting.
Participants worked together in smaller groups as well as in the plenary. At the end of the workshop they were invited to collect and write down their ideas (= policy recommendations) on how to tackle and combat disinformation in the EU.
Two selected Youth Ambassadors finalised and present policy recommendations worked out by the participants in the Vienna youth lab to high-level EU policy-makers and experts at a concluding conference in Brussels on the 1st and 2nd February 2024.
Who could participate in the Youth Lab?
- Participants needed to be residents of an EU country
- Participants needed to be between 18 and 30 years old
- Since the Youth Lab will be held in English, participants needed to be fluent in English
- Participants needed to show an interest in the topic of disinformation, how to combat it and/or electoral processes
- Participants who came from outside Vienna were be reimbursed for their travel, food and lodging costs (up to 500 Euro per person)
- A separate reimbursement package covered travel, food and lodging expenses of the two selected Youth Ambassadors, who travelled to Brussels in February 2024
Selection of candidates
Candidates were selected based on their motivation and experience. Apart from that we strove to assemble a diverse group of participants in terms of background, country of residence and gender.
