EU–US Cooperation on Tackling Disinformation

Research paper

Published 3 October 2019

Updated 14 December 2020

ISBN: 978 1 78413 357 3

— A congressional staff member displays print outs of social media posts during a hearing before the House Select Intelligence Committee 1 November 2017 in Washington, DC. Photo: Getty Images.

Sophia Ignatidou

Former Academy Associate, International Security Programme

Disinformation, as the latest iteration of propaganda suitable for a digitally interconnected world, shows no signs of abating. This paper provides a holistic overview of the current state of play and outlines how EU and US cooperation can mitigate disinformation in the future.

Summary

EU and US cooperation on tackling disinformation needs to be grounded in an international human rights framework in order to bridge the differences of both parties and include other countries facing this challenge.
The disinformation debate needs to be reformulated to cover systemic issues rather than merely technical or security concerns. A lag in regulatory development has led to systemic vulnerabilities. In this context, policymakers need to push for more evidence-based analysis, which is only attainable if technology companies engage in honest debate and allow meaningful access to data – as determined by government appointed researchers rather than the companies themselves – taking into account and respecting users’ privacy.
Data governance needs to be the focus of attempts to tackle disinformation. Data’s implications for information, market and power asymmetries, feed into and exacerbate the problem.
Policymakers should focus on regulating the distribution of online content rather than the subject matter itself, which may have implications for freedom of speech.
Disinformation is mainly the result of inefficient gatekeeping of highly extractive digital companies. The old gatekeepers, journalists and their respective regulators, need to be actively engaged in devising the new regulatory framework.
Legacy media need to urgently consider the issue of ‘strategic silence’ and avoid being co-opted by political actors aiming to manipulate the accelerated, reactive news cycle by engaging in divisive ‘clickbait’ rhetoric verging on disinformation and propaganda. When strategic silence is not an option, contextual analysis is fundamental.
The EU delegation should assist the coordination of EU–US efforts to tackle disinformation by drawing on the work and expertise at the G7 Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM), the Transatlantic Commission on Election Integrity (TCEI), the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats (Hybrid CoE), the High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation, and work with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to foster a long-term interdisciplinary forum to harness technological innovation to protect and support democracy from threats such as disinformation.
The EU and US must avoid rushed regulation that may condone enhanced surveillance or vilify journalism that scrutinizes those in power in the name of security.1

1 Bradshaw et al. found that since 2016 at least 43 countries around the world have passed regulations to address the issue of disinformation or electoral interference. See Bradshaw, S., Howard, P. N. and Neudert, L. (2018), Government Responses to Malicious Use of Social Media, StratCom Coe, November 2018, https://www.stratcomcoe.org/government-responses-malicious-use-social-media (accessed 29 Jul. 2019).

Next chapter

Topic themes

Defence and security

Economics and trade

Environment

Health

Institutions

Major powers

Politics and law

Society

Technology

Regions

Africa

Americas

Asia-Pacific

Europe

Middle East and North Africa

Russia and Eurasia

Foreign policy and international affairs events

Publications

Become a member

The Queen Elizabeth II Academy for Leadership and the Next Generation

About us

EU–US Cooperation on Tackling Disinformation

Sophia Ignatidou

Summary