The European Commission has launched a public consultation on the European Democracy Shield, an initiative to protect elections across the EU from interference and manipulation. Citizens are invited to share their views on potential measures to strengthen electoral resilience.
By Matthaios Tsimitakis
The European Commission has called for a public consultation on the European Democracy Shield. This initiative aims to protect elections across the EU from interference and manipulation. The Commission seeks to draw on a comprehensive set of stakeholder views to inform policy decisions. With a growing wave of attacks against artistic freedom in several countries in and outside the EU and the growing significance of creative professions in public digital communication, the consultation provides the cultural and creative communities of Europe with a significant way to bring critical issues such as the regulation of digital services and AI at the top of the agenda.
From a briefing by the Think Tank of the European Parliament:
In recent decades, the digital information sphere has become the public space for debate: the place where people access information, and form and express opinions. Over the past 10 years, global information ecosystems have also increasingly become geostrategic battlegrounds. Authoritarian state actors are testing and fine-tuning techniques to manipulate public opinion and foment divisions and tension, to undermine democratic societies and open democracy as a system. At the same time, the geostrategic rivalry overlaps more and more with corporate geopolitics: the digital information sphere has become a contested territory for large corporations competing fiercely to lead the development and roll-out of new technologies – with artificial intelligence (AI) as a game changer in this quest. These innovations come with risks: information manipulation campaigns facilitated by generative AI magnify threats to democratic information ecosystems. Strategic and systemic pressures on the open information environment are increasing. This tries to uphold universal values in the digital information environment – values such as human rights and, in particular, freedom of expression – even more essential. The increased focus on information integrity by multilateral organisations makes room for coordinating actions to enhance the resilience of information ecosystems more broadly, safeguarding human rights. This concept ties in with key parts of the work planned under the future 'European democracy shield'. The broad scope of information integrity covers a number of activities already under way in the EU – including measures and legislation launched in recent years – and offers new paths for coalitions and partnerships.
You can fill out the online questionnaire to contribute to this consultation. Questionnaires are available in some or all official EU languages, and responses can be submitted in any official EU language. The consultation period ends on 26 May 2025 (midnight Brussels time).
Image: Asis Percales for Fine Acts, Creative Commons-Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license (CC-BY-NC-SA)
