In the coming years, the EU aims to increase control over the Union’s media and the opinions and perspectives that citizens access on the internet. The project, known as the European Democratic Shield, includes several different components that are set to be gradually implemented from 2027 onwards.
”Center for Democratic Resilience” or simply the Center.
This is the name of the new EU institution that will be tasked with monitoring and, if necessary, intervening in the news, posts, opinions, and thoughts that EU citizens access or spread via the internet.
This is evident from the 30-page communiqué that the EU Commission will release on Wednesday afternoon.
The Russian Threat
The reason why the Center and its associated so-called democratic shield are needed, according to the EU Commission, is due to ”Russian disinformation” and ”interference from Russia and its proxies in the European democratic space”.
The communiqué mentions last year’s elections in Romania as an example, which, according to the authorities in Brussels, were subjected to Russian influence and therefore needed to be redone with pre-approved candidates.
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However, it’s not only Russia and ”its proxies” that are identified as threats. Even social media as such, with its algorithms, are problematic as they ”prioritize sensational and controversial content instead of reliable and substantiated information”, it states.
These algorithms ”risk reinforcing disinformation, societal divides, and challenging the visibility of media content”, the communiqué continues.
This is considered particularly problematic, as an increasing proportion of EU citizens get their news and perspectives via social media and so-called influencers.
DSA, VLOP, VLOSE, and FIMI
To address all of this, the EU has, first and foremost, an entire battery of letter combinations.
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Not least the DSA (Digital Services Act) which imposes requirements on VLOP (very large online platforms) and VLOSE (very large search engines) to allow the EU’s ECAT (European Center for Algorithmic Transparency) to review the former’s algorithms. All in order to avoid FIMI (foreign interference and disruption).
As previously known, the DSA is not so much aimed at curbing foreign influence as it is at stopping ”illegal racist and xenophobic expressions” as well as ”hate propaganda, sexual harassment, or other discriminatory actions”. The regulation was developed before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
However, it ”contributes to strengthening the integrity of the information space”, it is considered, by regulating the responsibility for unwanted content on the internet. Something that EU’s authorities can build on when intervening against more types of undesirable opinions and expressions.
A ”Fast Response System”
The Center, for example, will be equipped with a ”fast response system” which, in connection with general elections, can quickly intervene against social media accounts that ”are considered to pose a threat to the integrity of the electoral process”.
At the same time, the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) will be given expanded powers to monitor the ideas or opinions shared and spread in both EU member states and in candidate countries such as Ukraine and Moldova.
Another new tool in the toolbox is a ”voluntary EU network of influencers”, which will help spread knowledge about the rules that apply within the EU.
And the so-called fact-checkers, which many surely remember from the 2018 parliamentary elections, are making a comeback. The EU has developed a taste for the left-leaning idea and wants a complete ”European network of fact-checkers”.
This time, the fact-checkers will receive special ”legal and psychological protection” from those who might ”threaten and harass” them.
Citizenship Education in Schools
Furthermore, the EU will develop a special ”democracy guide for citizens”, create a ”European Citizens’ Panel for Democratic Resilience”, and children in schools will receive so-called ”citizenship education”.
A special European digital EU ID document, which is expected to be fully developed by the end of next year, will start being used by EU residents when interacting online.
In addition, member states are required to invest more in state media, so-called public service; not least to ”guarantee pluralism, including cultural and linguistic diversity”. Something that falls under a separate abbreviation; EMFA (European Media Freedom Regulation).
All of this will be part of the European Democratic Shield to be governed from the Center.
The hope is that all these laws, regulations, and measures, with the Center as the guiding big brother, will lead Europeans to the ideals formulated in ”A New European Bauhaus”.
”The Bauhaus initiative combines innovation, ambition, and creativity. It urges all Europeans to imagine and build a sustainable and inclusive future that is beautiful for our eyes, minds, and souls”, the EU Commission explains.