EU 'democracy shield' based on unwieldy digital laws

The European Commission unveiled its European Democracy Shield on Wednesday (12 November) - a plan to strengthen the EU's ability to fight foreign disinformation and political interference, which relies on the 2023 Digital Services Act (DSA) for its enforcement.

The idea for the shield was initially announced in 2024 by commission president Ursula von der Leyen in a speech to parliament.

Disinformation campaigns by foreign actors have raised concerns across the bloc and urgency to counter their influence, with the threat to fair elections demonstrated by Russia's interference in Romania and Moldova's previous parliamentary votes.

"The investments and actions we take now will determine the health of our democracies and the stability of our societies for the next generation of European citizens," EU rule-of-law commissioner Michael McGrath told the press during a conference on Wednesday.

The proposal creates several initiatives to support cooperation, but much of the enforcement of the proposal mainly relies on the DSA to fight disinformation, raising questions over whether this is a mere paper tiger.

The Shield

The proposal aims to use the new DSA and AI Act to manage online disinformation. 

And to strengthen these measures, the commission will create a DSA incidents and crisis protocol to better coordinate authorities during large-scale operations, while working with partner platforms to demonetise disinformation.

To tackle election interference directly, member states and commissions are updating the DSA Elections Toolkit, including practical guidance on AI and elections; creating a European Cooperation Network on Elections; building a blueprint for countering foreign information manipulation and disinformation; and establishing a European Network of Fact-Checkers.

But commission official insisted these initiatives aren't for creating a "ministry of truth” or “content control”.

“This is just about ensuring that there is transparency and that the democratic debate can take place in an environment where people know where the information is coming from," the official said.

The democracy shield also involves creating a European Centre for Democratic Resilience, where member states and EU candidate countries can voluntarily pool resources, build cooperative capacity, and better anticipate and manage democratic threats, such as misinformation during elections.

"There is a need to step up coordination, to reduce fragmentation, and to make sure that all capabilities and expertise are brought together," said another EU commission official on Wednesday.

The scheme also aims to support journalists through new legal protections and a Media Resilience Programme. 

Additionally, it wants to better educate citizens on disinformation and digital literacy, with a particular focus on youth initiatives. 

The Enforcement Concern 

There are, however, questions about the commission's ability to enforce its digital rules. 

The European Partnership for Democracy (EDP), an NGO network, is largely pleased with the proposal, as it is committed to improving the media landscape and includes candidate countries.

"The document is an important step in the right direction, but is by no means a complete response to the current challenges faced by democracy across," Emma Quaedvlieg, policy advisor at EDP told EUobserver.

Quaedvlieg notes that relying only on the DSA will not be enough to fight disinformation, however.

And for the proposal to work, it will "require investigations under the DSA to take less time, given the speed of developments in the online information environment - by the time investigations are concluded, irreparable damage may already be done to our democracy," said Quaedvlieg.

For example, the commission has been investigating X for 2 years for breaching DSA disinformation rules, and has not yet produced a verdict. 

Enforcement is also further complicated by the US's current hostility to digital regulations, with president Donald Trump threatening retaliatory tariffs against the EU if it imposes fines against American Companies.

This has also had an impact on the proposal’s wording, which is seen as rather weak.

"It's expected, given the pressure exerted by the new US administration, but it's a dangerous precedent for the EU, showing its willingness to fold in an area where it's seen as a trailblazer globally,” Quaedvlieg said.

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