Digitalization and disinformation: Current governance practices of the European Union

Abstract

The article focuses on the contemporary problems of the digital space. It considers the threat of disinformation as a systemic phenomenon and a characteristic of “information disorder” and the post-truth era. The study reflects on the main theoretical ideas about the relations between agents of informational influence, involving various stakeholders. It also assesses potential and existing measures to counter disinformation. The experience of the European Union reflects in this context a new, supranational approach to regulation of the digital sphere. This article aims to comprehensively reflect the evolution and the current state of the European Union’s activities in the field of countering disinformation and assess the strengths and weaknesses of its policy. The article considers such important changes in the activities of the European Union as the adoption of the new Digital Services Act, the application of media blocking practices, the revision of previous documents, as well as the transition from a self-regulatory practice to the practice of co-regulation. Strategies, action plans, and resolutions, as well as voluntary codes of practice, provide the basis for the analysis. They reflect the strategic vision, measures, and results of the work of various EU institutions. The study showed that currently the EU has reached a high level of interaction with digital platforms in the fight against disinformation, while the nature of those interactions has gradually changed. Despite the central role of platforms in the EU’s policy, it combines new practices of co-regulation with the development of a particular strategic narrative and cooperation with civil society. At the same time, the current policy reveals a number of negative trends, including the politicization of the problem in the context of geopolitical contradictions, the stigmatization of certain information influence sources, as well as a lack of attention to “non-political” disinformation. Additionally, there are problems in EU policy related to the inconsistency of particular acts, the lack of transparency of numerous measures, and the difficulty of monitoring and evaluating certain actions.