In the super election year of 2024, the EU wants to step up its fight against targeted disinformation from Russia or China. It is a “decisive year” for this, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said at a conference on “information manipulation from abroad” in Brussels on Tuesday. The European External Action Service (EEAS), led by Borrell, presented a 38-page report referencing more than 80 elections worldwide this year.
This includes the European Parliament elections in early June (in Austria on 9 June). Borrell’s diplomatic service warns in the report that fake news sources specifically target voters, political parties and candidates and want to destroy confidence in democracy.
750 cases of disinformation within a year
In total, EU experts investigated 750 cases of disinformation within a year, most of which were attributed to Russia. Nearly 150 organizations were affected by disinformation – “mostly the EU and its member states, as well as NATO, but also media organizations such as Euronews, Reuters, Deutsche Welle and the New York Times,” the report said. Attacks of a personal nature were mainly aimed at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“AI does not yet play a major role”
According to the report, artificial intelligence (AI) does not yet play a major role in the manipulations, but this could change quickly. The experts point to a December video made with AI that tricks citizens of Moldova, Ukraine’s neighbor, into believing they are listening to a speech by President Maia Sandu. A fake voice message from President Joe Biden recently circulated during the US election campaign; Similar incidents have already occurred in Britain and Slovakia, according to the report.
Against the backdrop of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, the EU’s diplomatic service published such a report for the first time a year ago. On this occasion, Borrell spoke of an information “war” by the West against Russia and other powers.
Source: Krone
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