Formation of a Policy for Protecting the Electoral Model of Political Participation Against Disinformation Influence (On the Example of the Policy of the European Union)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31861/mhpi2021.43.179-193Keywords:
political participation, electoral model of political participation, European Union, disinformation, policy of counteraction of disinformationAbstract
The article provides a comprehensive study of the peculiarities of policy formation to protect the electoral model of political participation from disinformation in the European Union. It is established that its content is determined by the synthesis of three components: (1) information, which combines the functioning of a transparent and accountable online ecosystem, development of education and media literacy, support for quality journalism as a source of formation/renewal/ transformation of motivation of citizens; (2) institutional – security of electoral processes and stable functioning of the institution of elections as a space for the implementation of electoral choice of citizens of EU member states; (3) security – counteracting internal and external threats of disinformation, which distort the electoral choice, by means of strategic communications. The effectiveness of anti-disinformation policy is ensured by its democratic procedure, which involved the involvement of experts (HLEG), broad public consultations on the impact of disinformation on the nature of political processes and opinion polls in EU member states. It has been proven that the tools and types of disinformation dissemination used by third parties have identified the need for legislative regulation of the process of identifying and removing disinformation content of messages on social networks and the Internet; developing a model of coordinated action at EU level to combat hybrid threats; determining the nature and level of EU dependence on foreign technologies in critical infrastructure chains; identifying ways to strengthen internal security at the level of EU institutions; development of a system of tools to counter disinformation campaigns by third countries, which are created to influence the public opinion of citizens of EU member states. It is justified that one of the results of the development of anti-disinformation policy is a clear definition of the unresolved problem to which the political and discursive practices of the political elite should be directed – it is hidden foreign funding of political activities in the EU.
References
Allcott H., Gentzkow M. (2017), Social Media and Fake News in the 2016, Election Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol.31(2), p. 211–236.
Castells M. (2009), Communication Power, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Cerulus L. (2021), Dutch Parties Reject Foreign Money For Election Ads. Political Parties Pledged To Avoid Unethical Microtargeting of Voters, URL: https://www.politico.eu/article/dutch-parties-reject-foreign-ad-money-for-election-campaigning/.
Chomsky N. (2002), Media Control, Seven Stories Press, New York.
Cooke N. A. (2017), Post-Truth, Truthiness, and Alternative Facts: Information Behavior and Critical Information Consumption for a New Age, Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy, Vol. 87(3), p. 211–221.
Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs (2020), Institutions and Foreign Interferences, URL: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2020/655290/IPOL_STU (2020)655290_EN.pdf.
EEAS10 (2021), Questions and Answers about the East StratCom Task Force, URL: https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage/2116/-questions-and-answers-about-the-east-.
Eur-Lex (2018), Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions Tackling Online Disinformation: a European Approach. COM/2018/236 final, URL:https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52018DC0236.
Eurobarometer (2018), Special Eurobarometer 477. First results. Democracy and elections. Fieldwork September 2018, URL: https://europa.eu/eurobarometer/surveys/detail/2198.
European Comision (2019), Code of Practice on Disinformation, URL: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/code-practice-disinformation.
European Commission (2016), Brussels, 14.9.2016. SWD(2016) 301 final. PART 1/3. Accompanying the Document Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on copyright in the Digital Single Market and Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council Laying Down Rules on the Exercise of Copyright and Related Rights Applicable to Certain Online Transmissions of Broadcasting Organisations and Retransmissions of Television and Radio Programmes {COM (2016) 593} {COM (2016) 594} {SWD (2016) 302}, URL: http://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/dae/document.cfm?doc_id=17211.
European Commission (2016), Media Pluralism and Democracy: Outcomes of the 2016 Annual Colloquium on Fundamental Rights, URL: https://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/image/document/2016-50/2016-fundamental-colloquium-conclusions_40602.pdf.
European Commission (2016), Public Consultation on the Role of Publishers in the Copyright Value Chain and on the «Panorama Exception». Opening: 23 March 2016. Closing: 15 June 2016, URL: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/consultations/public-consultation-role-publishers-copyright-value-chain-and-panorama-exception.
European Commission (2016), Regulation 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the Protection of Natural Persons with Regard to the Processing of Personal Data and on the Free Movement of Such Data, and Repealing Directive 95/46/EC, URL: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52020XC0417(08)&from=EN.
European Commission (2018), A multi-dimensional approach to disinformation Report of the independent High level Group on fake news and online disinformation, URL: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/final-report-high-level-expert-group-fake-news-and-online-disinformation.
European Commission (2018), Communication From the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. Tackling Online Disinformation: a European Approach. Brussels, 26.4.2018. COM/2018/236 final, URL: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52018DC0236& from=EN.
European Council (2015), Brussels, 20 March 2015 (OR. en). EUCO 11/15. CO EUR 1 CONCL 1. Cover Note, URL: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/21888/european-council-conclusions-19-20-march-2015-en.pdf.
European Parliament (2020), Committees. Special Committee on Foreign Interference in All Democratic Processes in the European Union, Including Disinformation. INGE(2020)0923_1. Draft Agenda. Meeting Wednesday 23 September 2020, 14.00–18.00 (constitutive meeting) Brussels, Room: Paul-Henri Spaak (3C050), URL: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2014_2019/ plmrep/COMMITTEES/INGE/DV/2020/09-23/1213785EN.pdf.
European Parliament 2019–2024 (2019), P9_TA(2019)0031 Foreign Electoral Interference and Disinformation in National and European Democratic Processes. European Parliament Resolution of 10 October 2019 on Foreign Electoral Interference and Disinformation in National and European Democratic Processes (2019/2810(RSP)), URL: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2019-0031_EN.pdf.
European Parliament 2019–2024 (2020), 17.12.2020. Working Document on the State of the Foreign Interference in the European Union, Including Disinformation Special Committee on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the European Union, Including Disinformation Rapporteur: Sandra Kalniete, URL: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2014_2019/plmrep/ COMMITTEES/INGE/DT/2021/01-11/1220809EN.pdf.
European Parliament 2019–2024 (2020), E-Meeting for Committees. INGE. Agenda: December 2, 2020, URL: https://emeeting.europarl.europa.eu/emeeting/committee/en/agenda/202012/INGE.
European Parliament 2019–2024 (2020), E-Meeting for Committees. INGE. Agenda: Febrary 1, 2021, URL: https://emeeting.europarl.europa.eu/emeeting/committee/en/agenda/202102/ INGE?meeting=INGE-2021-0201_1&session=02-01-16-15.
European Parliament 2019–2024 (2020), P9_TA(2020)0161 Setting up a Special Committee on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the European Union, Including Disinformation, and Defining Its Responsibilities, Numerical Strength and Term Of Office. European Parliament Decision of 18 June 2020 on Setting up a Special Committee on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the European Union, Including Disinformation, and Defining its Responsibilities, Numerical Strength and Term of Office (2020/2683(RSO)), URL: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/ doceo/document/TA-9-2020-0161_EN.pdf.
European Parliament 2019–2024 (2020), Rules of Procedure. 9th Parliamentary Term. June 2020, URL: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/RULES-9-2020-06-30_EN.pdf.
European Parliament 2019–2024 (2020), Special Committee on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the European Union, including Disinformation. 4.3.2021. Working Document on Covert Funding of Political Activities by Foreign Donors Special Committee on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the European Union, Including Disinformation Rapporteur: Sandra Kalniete, URL: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/INGE-DT-689654_EN.pdf.
GMF (2020), Covert Foreign Money: Financial Loopholes Exploited by Authoritarians to Fund Political Interference in Democracies. August 18, 2020, URL: https://www.gmfus.org/publications/covert-foreign-money-financial-loopholes-exploited-authoritarians-fund-political.
IDEA (2019), Are There Limits on Online Media Advertising Spending in Relation to Election Campaigns? URL: https://www.idea.int/data-tools/question-view/284602.
Joint Declaration on Freedom of Expression and “Fake News”, Disinformation and Propaganda. FOM.GAL/3/17 3 March 2017. Original: English, URL: https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/6/8/302796.pdf.
Keyes R. (2004), The Post-Truth Era: Dishonesty and Deception in Contemporary Life, St. Martin’s Press, New York.
Klein D., Wueller J. (2017), Fake News: A Legal Perspective, Journal of Internet Law, Vol. 20(10), p. 6–13.
Lazer D. M. J. et al. (2018), The science of fake news, Science, Vol. 359(6380), p. 1094–1096.
Loi pour la confiance dans la vie politique, 15 September 2017 (2017), URL: https://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2017/08/09/les-projets-de-loi-sur-la-moralisation-de-la-vie-politique-definitivement-adoptes-par-le-parlement_5170678_823448.html.
Nardelli A. (2019), Revealed: The Explosive Secret Recording That Shows How Russia Tried To Funnel Millions To The “European Trump”, URL: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/albertonardelli/salvini-russia-oil-deal-secret-recording?origin=web-hf.
Phillips A. (2015), Journalism in Context: Practice and Theory for the Digital Age, Routledge, London.
Revealed: How Britain First Disguised the Source of a £200,000 Donation (2019), URL: https://www.vice.com/en/article/43jzbp/britain-first-donations-shell-company-investigation.
Shaping Europe’s Digital Future (2018), Consultation Results. 26 April 2018. Synopsis Report of the Public Consultation on Fake News and Online Disinformation, URL: https://ec.europa.eu/ digital-single-market/en/news/synopsis-report-public-consultation-fake-news-and-online-disinformation.
World Economic Forum (2014), Top 10 trends of 2014: 10. The Rapid Spread of Misinformation Online, URL: http://reports.weforum.org/outlook-14/top-ten-trends-category-page/10-the-rapid-spread-of-misinformation-online/?doing_wp_cron=1618740174.9971740245819091796875.
Zielonka J. (2015), Media and Politics in New Democracies: Europe in a Comparative Perspective, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.