The Rule of Law in the Post-Truth Era
The project aims to critically analyse the EU’s strategy for combatting disinformation in a multistakeholder environment, focusing on its implications for democracy and the rule of law. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the advent of generative AI, and the record number of elections taking place in 2024 have led the EU to take unprecedented steps to address the spread of false or misleading information. At the same time, the coherence between different measures as well as their overall effectiveness remain uncertain. On the one hand, disinformation is increasingly perceived as a security threat, with the EU institutions wielding significant authority to restrict its potential sources. On the other hand, a considerable amount of responsibility to combat disinformation is allocated to private actors, such as online platforms and fact-checking organisations. The project undertakes to map and reflect on these contradictory dynamics. It examines how the EU’s regulatory approach could negatively affect freedom of expression and media freedom as well as investigates the pitfalls of a decentralised approach to tackling information threats. The project will provide recommendations on crafting a flexible yet robust approach to countering false and misleading information founded on transparent collaboration between public and private actors.
