The European Commission on Wednesday will present ‘the democracy shield’ a plan to protect the bloc and EU candidate countries from foreign interference and political manipulation.
The shield is a series of proposals to be rolled out in the coming years. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on Tuesday said it had seen an advanced draft of the document which emphasizes that Russia is the main direct threat to the European Union as well as countries aiming to join the bloc.
The European Commission will present the plan on Wednesday.
“In addition to its brutal war of aggression against Ukraine, Russia is also escalating hybrid attacks, waging a battle of influence against Europe. The tactics used are reaching deep into the fabric of our societies, with potentially long-lasting impacts,” the draft says.
“By spreading deceitful narratives, sometimes including the manipulation and falsification of historical facts, they try to erode trust in democratic systems.”
In the 30-page report, Russia is the only country mentioned, despite the fact that the bloc has previously expressed concerns about China’s attempt to wield political influence throughout Europe.
Disinformation in our age
The issue of fighting disinformation and foreign interference is controversial across Europe.
US Vice President JD Vance argued that the danger for the EU wasn’t coming from China or Russia but rather internally via censorship and suppression of dissent and voices at the Munich Security Conference in February.
His criticism was tied to Romania’s Constitutional Court which in December 2024 annulled the presidential election just days before the second round was due to take place due to alleged Russian interference.
The court ruled that the Kremlin had run an online campaign to promote anti-establishment NATO skeptic candidate Calin Georgescu, who finished first. At the time, critics accused the court of political interference.
Later, Romanian authorities have revealed how the Kremlin meddled in the campaign and how Romania is under continued attack from the hybrid war. Russia has denied interfering.
The draft also suggests the EU must engage with these tech giants such as Meta. Most of them, with the exception of Elon Musk’s X, have signed up to the EU’s Code of Conduct on Disinformation, which means companies such as Facebook and TikTok provide regular updates to the European Commission on how they’re addressing the issue.
Artificial Intelligence part of a toxic mix
The paper suggests the European Commission should push such companies to do more to “demonetize disinformation” and improve the detection and labeling of AI-generated and manipulated content.
The focus of the “democracy shield” is threefold: improving situational awareness, supporting democratic institutions and free media, and boosting citizen engagement.
The main proposal is for the creation of a European Center for Democratic Resilience. This would be a hub that would “link together existing networks and structures working on prevention, detection, analysis, and response to patterns of threats in the information space, and work to develop joint approaches, practices and methodologies and exchanging relevant data and analyses,” RFE/RL reported.
The European Commission is keen to stress the initiative isn’t a ‘Ministry of Truth.’ The plans would be rolled out gradually, with voluntary participation, while the center will operate in “respect EU and national competences.”
Closely Observing Elections
Other ideas include the roll-out of an “EU digital identity wallet” next year for EU citizens and residents, the creation of a European network of fact-checkers who will work on a fact-checking repository, and “a voluntary network of influencers to raise awareness about relevant EU rules and promote the exchange of best practice.”
