BRUSSELS: Faced with a Russian “battle of influence against Europe”, the European Union will unveil on Wednesday (Nov 12) a package of measures to protect elections from foreign interference and better finance free media.

In a draft document seen Monday by AFP, the EU executive accused Moscow of seeking “to erode trust in democratic systems”, disinformation, and the “falsification of historical facts”.

As an example of the risks, the European Commission points to Romania’s presidential election in November 2024, annulled after allegations of Russian interference and massive social media promotion of the far-right frontrunner, who unexpectedly topped the vote.

“In addition to its brutal war of aggression against Ukraine, Russia is also escalating hybrid attacks, waging a battle of influence against Europe,” the commission wrote in the document.

The new measures include increasing financing to the media - although the draft does not provide specific figures - and closely monitoring news group mergers to better promote pluralism.

It hopes the package, dubbed the “European Democracy Shield”, will help to tackle “news deserts” - rural areas where local media shuts down because of a lack of resources.

CYBERATTACKS & AI DEVELOPMENTS

The EU will also propose launching a hub to better coordinate the fight against foreign interference at a European level.

In addition to disinformation, Brussels identifies two major threats to the bloc: cyberattacks and the dizzying development of artificial intelligence.

“Electoral processes must be considered as critical infrastructure, just like submarine cables,” French EU lawmaker Nathalie Loiseau, who follows the file in parliament, told AFP.

The proposal goes in the “right direction”, she said, but criticised the commission, which is also the EU’s digital watchdog, for failing to enforce rules that “already exist”.

Loiseau gave the example of the investigation into Elon Musk’s X social media platform, accused of violating digital content rules but has yet to be fined.

“You can’t have an investigation into X that has been going on for so long and not know the results or the consequences,” she said.

The probe into X began in December 2023, and the EU told the platform it was violating the bloc’s rules in July 2024.

Asked about the X investigation, the commission said Monday it needed “solid cases at our disposal before we can adopt final decisions”.

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urged the EU to be more ambitious and force platforms to increase the online visibility of reliable media via their algorithms, rather than promoting disinformation.

The proposal has made the “right diagnosis”, but it “does not put forward solutions that are up to the challenges”, RSF noted.

COMBAT ATTACKS ON JOURNALISTS, POLITICIANS

Beyond the media and electoral systems, the commission also wants to combat rising attacks on journalists and politicians.

According to the EU, nearly two-thirds of political parties faced threats, violence, or harassment online or in person during the 2024 European elections. The most targeted were women and minority groups.