Special Committees on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the European Union, including Disinformation, I and II (Adopted 13/07/2023)

At the Plenary session on 13 July 2023, the ING2 Report was adopted

At the Plenary session on 13 July 2023, the ING2 Report on Recommendations for reform of the European Parliament's rules on transparency, integrity, accountability and anti-corruption (2023/2034(INI)), was adopted with 441 votes in favour, 70 against and 71 abstentions.

Our work on foreign interference and disinformation

Reacting to the growing evidence of external interference and disinformation campaigns affecting European elections and public debates, the S&D Group has successfully managed to set up a special committee to shed light on these practices, which jeopardise European democracy and the EU project.

The 'Special Committee on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the European Union, including Disinformation II' builds upon the work done by its homonymous predecessor whose term ended on 23 March 2022. The new 33-member-strong committee will screen existing and planned EU legislation in a range of areas for loopholes that could be exploited by third countries for malicious purposes.

The special committee will analyse the situation across Europe and work on ambitious proposals to respond to foreign interference and manipulation. The threats include: large-scale disinformation campaigns, cyber-attacks aimed at undermining electoral infrastructure, hack-and-leak operations targeted at public figures, the use of online trolls/bots to spread ‘fake news’, political micro-targeting of vulnerable communities, and last but not least the illegal funding of political parties and foundations. In addition, the committee will look at how the EU regions depend on foreign technology infrastructure, which could be used to cut crucial supply and communication networks.

Understanding the threats

Analyse the situation across Europe and get a clear picture of the different aspects of the problem to obtain a clearer view of what we face.
Assess the action taken by Big Tech companies to fix the problem of disinformation.
Investigate the quality and security of tech infrastructure in European and national institutions, locating the vulnerabilities that could lead to system breaches and cyber-attacks.

Protestors at at women's march with a banner reading 'Voting is my superpower'

A strategy to safeguard our democracies

Propose a comprehensive strategy to prevent malicious interference at European and even global level.
Present a clear analysis of where and how foreign financing of political groups is happening so that action can be taken, nationally and internationally.
Step up action with traditional and social media platforms to prevent malicious activities, including improving algorithms online and in social media to ensure that foreign state-sponsored content does not appear at the top of search results.
Set out a duty-of-care strategy for social media platforms to protect vulnerable citizens from bogus political interference.
Propose penalties for Big Tech companies that fail to address the problem.
Strengthen resilience to disinformation, for example by creating effective programmes for digital literacy and empowering the research community to counter disinformation.
Co-operate with the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence to include AI experts/researchers in the fight to defend our democracies and expose disinformation.
Identify areas of co-operation with the EU’s international allies to exchange ideas/resources and facilitate joint campaigns against malign interference.