On June 23, 2016, the European Union (EU) experienced the biggest rupture since its foundation. This United Kingdom left the community club and Brexit it came true. National conservative, six hours after amputation learned Nigel Farage He admitted that the big promises of the campaign, which Brussels chose not to interfere, were lies. “It was a big mistake not to act,” she admits now Jesus Carmona, the media director of the European Parliament. “However, it woke us up.”
Six years after the trauma, the EU faces a major challenge in which information plays a key role in the wake of Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine. “The pandemic has radically changed our position and guerrilla accelerated it,” explains Carmona. ” disinformation It is not something that can affect democracy from within rather than an inter-country war and create a citizen’s indifference towards democracy that affects our functioning”.
On the global geopolitical chessboard, the EU is an actor with its own interests. Therefore European Parliament it tries to neutralize narratives that contradict them by publishing positive information about their institutions and supporting journalists and ‘confirmators’. scams started by its competitors.
In an environment where reality is increasingly questioned, Brussels they focus on raising their values and reversing the interests of foreign powers in consolidating them as the dominant system. “Chinese y Russia They sell that they are countries where life is not so bad, but we do not think that the rule of law is not respected or that torture is justified,” Carmona says.
deterioration from the inside
But this battle for the story is also being waged within the borders of Europe, where there are “activities corroding the EU”. Among the twenty-seven there are countries such as: Hungary, Poland HE Slovakia whose governments make accusations against the interests of their partners and seek to legitimize community institutions, while at the same time extreme right Europe is dangerously close Kremlin.
To strengthen its communications campaign, Brussels has the support of Media Intelligence Unite, a platform that monitors up to 6,000 media outlets to analyze how they talk about the EU. The reports they make are for internal consumption and serve to advise clients. European Commission (CE), detect the proliferation of counter-narratives and take action. “This news follow-up allows us to make corrections and speak positively about the EU,” he explains. Paula Fernandez Hervasunit head. “As long as we don’t give way to those who only talk about the negative.”
act by law
Laws are one of the EU’s pillars in the fight against disinformation. As early as 2016, the European Commission and key tech companies agreed on a code of conduct for fighting. hate speech and incitement to violence Internet. “Platforms still don’t 100% respect what we believe they should eliminate, but we’ve struck a certain balance between regulation and freedom of the press,” Carmona said.
The European Parliament will approve the bill in the coming months. Digital Services Law (DSA) is a huge legislative project where these platforms will be encouraged to stop scams, and the European Commission will decide if they are doing enough.
This point is controversial because threats of a racial, ethnic, sexual or religious nature may be illegal, but disinformation is not. The pressure from Brussels to remove such content from social networks under the threat of sanctions worries experts and organizations. digital rights Like Xnet, which denounces that this can lead to “excessive withdrawal of legitimate content”, i.e. censorship. The lack of harmonization of laws in the EU is also a problem, as not all member states agree on what is illegal and what is not.
platforms like Facebook, excitement HE YouTube They were accused of using algorithms that make the most polarizing content go viral, as emotional content engages and retains the user more. Therefore, DSA will force it to evaluate the impact of the algorithms and act accordingly. “We are examining how this assessment is carried out several times a year in extraordinary situations such as a pandemic or war,” says Danish MEP Christel Schaldemose, rapporteur of the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee. Increased control in these areas has led to disinformation channels being moved to other platforms that are more difficult to control. Telegram HE Twitch.
Despite not having much support, parties like PP advocate ending anonymity on the internet and identifying all users by their identities to prevent disinformation. Groups such as the Freedom of Information Platform (PLI) have for years rejected the proposal as violating “all international standards” and The UN wants this anonymity preserved.