EU lawmakers back report calling for action on foreign interference

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The text was adopted at the Parliament’s plenary session with 469 votes in favour, 71 against and 75 abstentions. [EPA-EFE/OLIVIER HOSLET]

The European Parliament on Thursday (1 June) endorsed a report on countering foreign interference and information manipulation, calling for a whole-of-society approach to tackling the issue. 

The report was prepared by the EU Parliament’s special committee on foreign interference in democratic processes (ING2), which last year issued its first report on the situation in the EU and the steps that should be taken to address it. 

The document, a draft of which was approved by the committee in April, notes, in particular, the need to safeguard the upcoming European elections, set for June 2024. The text was adopted at the Parliament’s plenary session with 469 votes in favour, 71 against and 75 abstentions. 

The EU needs to move to a more proactive approach to guarding against foreign interference, said the file’s rapporteur, MEP Sandra Kalniete, ahead of the vote. “Therefore, we need to establish a dedicated European programme and invest in our democracy in a sustainable way,” she said.

“It will not give a solution tomorrow, and it will be expensive,” she continued. “But it is certainly a worthwhile long-term investment.”

MEPs call to step up EU efforts against foreign interference

EU lawmakers adopted a resolution calling for coordinated action on foreign interference, warning of risks in the lead-up to next year’s European Parliament elections. 

Risk-based approach 

The report advocates, in particular, for a move away from what it says is the “country-agnostic” approach to tackling foreign interference and information manipulation (FIMI) currently practised by the Commission and the European External Action Service, the EU’s diplomatic arm. 

Instead, it recommends a “risk-based” approach based on objective criteria, where authorities are willing to identify and name countries that have attempted foreign interference. 

The report also calls for a whole-of-society strategy for tackling and preventing FIMI, including through the strengthened enforcement of existing measures and implementation of capacity-building actions. 

Increased attention to and communication with third countries in the EU’s immediate neighbourhood and beyond is also urged. 

Strengthening of resilience

Also emphasised by the report is the need to strengthen European and national level capacities when it comes to pre and de-bunking of mis- and disinformation, as well to boost cyber skills, digital literacy and civic education. 

“We need to move beyond the reactive approach centred on fact-checking, debunking etc., and instead focus on resilience building and vaccination of our societies against disinformation,” said Kalniete during a debate on the report. 

Lawmakers called for increased communication and coordination between EU institutions and member state bodies and for establishing an EU structure for analysing data, coordinating research and producing reports to increase situational awareness, threat intelligence sharing and countermeasures. 

The report also proposes the establishment of a Rapid Alert System for MEPs and members of national parliaments to counter disinformation, as well as specific training for anyone working in public institutions. 

The Parliament, the report argues, should also have a permanent body to ensure a “transversal approach” to effectively tracking and combating foreign interference. 

Online platforms

The report is critical of large online platforms’ response to disinformation, saying it regrets that actors such as Meta, Google, YouTube, TikTok and Twitter are still not doing enough to counter it. 

Twitter, in particular, is singled out, with its “backwards steps” in the anti-disinformation fight since Elon Musk’s takeover last year denounced by the report. Lawmakers “deplore” staff cuts at the platform and call for companies to ensure sufficient resources to work on the issue in all languages. 

Compliance by Twitter with the EU’s Code of Practice on Disinformation is also called for, too late, however, with the vote occurring just days after the platform confirmed its withdrawal from the measures. 

Twitter set to exit EU Code of Practice on Disinformation, sources say

Twitter told the European Commission it is seriously considering withdrawing from the EU Code of Practice on Disinformation, a voluntary agreement that preludes upcoming binding rules, EU officials told EURACTIV.

The announcement of Twitter’s withdrawal from the code would come as …

The risks of artificial intelligence in addressing mis- and disinformation are also noted, with Kalniete warning during the debate that the technology will make creating such content at a large scale much easier and cheaper. 

Critical infrastructures and other influence 

The report also warns against EU dependence in strategic sectors, including energy, digital technologies and critical infrastructure, and raises concerns about the vulnerabilities of undersea cables.

It also calls on the Commission and EU countries to reduce risk factors and boost transparency, including in areas such as foreign direct Investment. 

The exertion of influence via academic and cultural institutions is also cautioned against, as is elite capture and the covert funding of political activities by foreign donors.

[Edited by Luca Bertuzzi/Nathalie Weatherald]

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