The European Union’s governance approach to tackling disinformation – protection of democracy, foreign influence, and the quest for digital sovereignty

Kachelmann, Matthias / Wulf Reiners
External Publications (2023)

in: L'Europe en Formation 396, 11-36

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3917/eufor.396.0011
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This article presents an overview of the characteristics of disinformation in the digital age, outlines the evolution of the EU’s efforts to tackling disinformation, and provides an overall analysis of its governance approach along policies, actors, and policy instruments. On this basis, we analyse its compatibility with the EU’s quest for digital sovereignty. Main findings are that the EU has maintained a notably stable approach by combining soft and hard instruments within a co-regulatory framework that involves private and public actors. We conclude that an interplay of the nature of disinformation, the setup of big online platforms, EU regulation, and the exposure to foreign influences creates a complex set of competing factors that facilitate and constrain digital sovereignty.

About the authors

Reiners, Wulf

Political Science

Kachelmann, Matthias

Political Science