The European Commission wants it influencers and independent information and data verifiers, also known as fact checkersthey are one of the many legs of the final “democratic shield”. The project includes several lines of action. Some involve the intensification of collaboration between States, the improvement of already available tools or the deepening of others, through action plans and protocols, such as the one announced on the Digital Services Regulation (DSA). Others consist of using “financial instruments to support the economic resilience of EU media”, according to the draft to which this newspaper has had access. Among all the initiatives there is also the admission to the “growing role of influencers in political campaigns online” and therefore proposes “the creation of a voluntary network” of these digital actors “to publicize the relevant EU standards and promote the exchange of good practices”.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced this initiative against interference from third countries in her investiture speech before the European Parliament. “Our democratic system and its institutions are under attack,” he shouted at MEPs to justify this initiative. He was mainly referring to Russia and this time not the invasion of Ukraine. The head of the EU executive spoke about the information manipulation or direct disinformation campaigns launched by Moscow or its various allies, especially in electoral processes.
He also referred to campaigns spreading hoaxes or attacks on social networks against democratic institutions to discredit the rule of law or the political systems of EU members or candidates to join with the aim of destabilizing or undermining citizens’ trust. For example, just over a month ago, during the elections in Moldova, a candidate country for membership of the Union, the authorities denounced various methods of Russian interference, including cyber attacks against institutions, massive propaganda on social networks with videos manipulated by artificial intelligence and unfounded accusations against the country’s president, Maia Sandu.
democratic shield
Next Wednesday, the details of what Von der Leyen announced just over a year ago will be presented. The official name of the initiative is European Democratic Shield: Strengthening strong and resilient democracies. It is made up of some new measures, but above all it is a compendium of already existing elements and rules. “The Commission is trying to shore up the key foundations of democracy, at an extremely delicate time, with external forces pushing to undermine European values and citizens’ credibility in democracy. While it focuses primarily on external threats, attention should also be paid to those coming from within,” says a senior community source.
The initiative comes at a particularly hot time in Europe, when Russia has intensified its hybrid war against the EU with a series of acts of sabotage, air raids and even attempted political interference and propaganda campaigns aimed at destabilizing the community club. For this reason the shield is rather small naive to face devices as powerful as the machine of Russia (or China), a country that dedicates one of its intelligence agencies to intervene abroad.
One of the first measures he puts on the table is for the Commission itself to develop: the preparation of incident and crisis protocols based on the DSA, a regulation that was used, for example, to open an investigation into TikTok for its role in the Romanian elections suspended at the end of 2024.
Another proposal is the creation of a European network of independent verifiers. This initiative, in fact, already started in April this year, when the Commission launched a call for five million euros for this purpose, underlining that this network will “complement and expand the work of the European Digital Media Observatory”. It also announces a plan to combat interference and manipulation of information by third parties or support for the European Audiovisual Communications Services Council to develop common criteria for regulators to take action against “non-EU” media that pose a risk to public order and security.
One of the fields in which it proposes the greatest number of actions is the electoral one. For example, the Commission communication talks about “preparing guides on the use of artificial intelligence in electoral processes” or “supporting joint work with Member States, transparency and integrity of funding in politics”. It is in this chapter that he expresses his support for the creation of this network influencers “raise awareness of relevant EU rules and promote the exchange of good practices”. “It will also encourage ethical standards and voluntary commitments, particularly regarding data integrity,” it adds.
For the independent media, the Commission also has a role because “they are essential for democracy”. “But it is a sector under strong economic pressure in a context marked by digitalisation,” he admits. There he proposes actions in the field of competition regulation, trying to ensure that advertisers and advertising industry players in dominant positions (especially American technology giants, such as Alphabet) do not abuse their position. Furthermore, it proposes this economic support through already existing instruments that act as a “bridge” with “the programs that will be created in the next multiannual financial framework”.
