The European Union approach to disinformation and misinformation : the case of the 2019 European Parliament elections

Abstract

In the last years, the phenomenon of so called “fake news” on social media has become more and more discussed, in particular after the 2016 US elections. The thesis examines how the European Union is approaching “fake news” on social media, taking the 2019 European Parliament elections as a case study. This research favours the words “disinformation” and “misinformation”, over “fake news”. It, firstly, explores the different way of spreading disinformation and misinformation and how this can affect our human rights. This thesis will, secondly, focus on the different approaches, remedies and solutions to false information, outlining their limits, in order to recommend to the European Union, the best policies to tackle the phenomenon. The research will, thirdly, focuses on how the European Institutions are currently approaching this issue on social media and the steps that have been taken to protect European citizens from disinformation and misinformation; at this purpose the relevant European policy documents will be analysed. This analysis is necessary to understand the ground of the EU elections. The thesis will conclude with the case study of 2019 European Parliament elections. It will find if there have been cases of disinformation on social media and if the actions taken by the European Union have been enough to protect the second largest elections in the world. Key words: fake news, disinformation, misinformation, co-regulation, Russian disinformation campaigns, European Union, 2019 European Parliament elections.