EU Report Exposes Extensive Russian and Chinese Disinformation Campaigns Targeting Global Democracy
The European External Action Service (EEAS) released its third annual report on Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI), revealing a stark reality of widespread, state-sponsored disinformation campaigns orchestrated primarily by Russia and China. The report, unveiled during a FIMI conference in Brussels, documents the alarming extent of these operations, targeting over 90 countries and 300 organizations in 2024 alone. These campaigns sought to manipulate public opinion, sow discord within societies, and interfere with democratic processes across the globe. High-profile events like the Paris Olympics, German farmers’ protests, and elections in Moldova and Romania became focal points for these disinformation efforts.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, delivered a stark warning, labeling FIMI as a "weapon of war" aimed at destabilizing societies and driving a wedge between the EU and its partners. She emphasized the gravity of the threat, comparing disinformation to a bullet piercing the heart of democracy, with FIMI representing the entire arsenal behind the attack. The report highlights Russia’s sustained focus on Ukraine, with over half of all documented disinformation incidents aimed at undermining Ukrainian morale, discouraging resistance to the ongoing invasion, and eroding support for Ukraine among its Western allies, particularly the US, NATO, G7, and the EU. Poland and Germany were identified as key targets in this effort.
Beyond Ukraine, Russia’s disinformation campaigns also targeted countries aspiring to EU membership, such as Georgia and Serbia, aiming to sow distrust in the EU and its values. The report also underscored the increasing exploitation of elections by foreign actors. With more than half of the world’s population participating in elections last year, disinformation campaigns increasingly sought to manipulate electoral processes, often commencing well before election day and continuing even after the results were declared. The European Parliament elections in June 2024 saw 42 documented attempts at interference, with similar operations detected in presidential elections in Taiwan and the United States, as well as in Moldova’s EU accession referendum. Parliamentary elections in Georgia, France, and Romania also witnessed the spread of disinformation via social media platforms, particularly TikTok, where manipulated content promoted a far-right, pro-Russian candidate in one instance.
The rampant spread of election-related disinformation has prompted governments to consider proactive measures. Germany urged the European Commission to convene a meeting with major online platforms to address the challenge of managing election-related disinformation effectively. Poland also explored similar initiatives ahead of its presidential election, although the proposal faced resistance from certain political factions. Kallas emphasized the sophistication of Russia’s digital disinformation machinery, encompassing automated bot networks, AI-generated content, and the creation of fake news websites mimicking reputable media outlets like Le Monde, Die Welt, and The Guardian.
Social media platforms continue to serve as the primary conduit for disseminating false narratives, with the report identifying the X platform (formerly Twitter) as the source of 88 percent of detected disinformation activity. The EU has developed EU vs Disinfo, the world’s largest database of documented disinformation cases, as a key weapon in the fight against foreign disinformation networks. This database, accessed by 38 million users last year, has identified over 18,000 instances of Kremlin-backed disinformation. Kallas stressed the effectiveness of exposing these disinformation networks, as establishing new ones incurs significant costs for the perpetrators. Furthermore, she highlighted the EU’s imposition of its first sanctions against Russia and its allies for engaging in hybrid attacks in December, marking a significant step in holding these actors accountable.
The EEAS report serves as a crucial wake-up call, highlighting the urgent need for continued vigilance and robust countermeasures to address the pervasive threat of foreign information manipulation and interference. The documented scale and sophistication of these campaigns, primarily orchestrated by Russia and China, underscore the importance of international cooperation and proactive measures to protect democratic processes and societal cohesion. The EU’s ongoing efforts to expose and counter these disinformation networks, including the development of the EU vs Disinfo database and the imposition of sanctions, represent critical steps in combating this growing threat to global democracy. The report underscores the need for continuous monitoring, analysis, and proactive engagement with online platforms and governments to mitigate the impact of these manipulative campaigns. The fight against disinformation requires a multi-faceted approach, combining technological solutions, legislative measures, media literacy initiatives, and international collaboration to safeguard the integrity of information spaces and democratic institutions worldwide.
