Combatting disinformation in the modern media landscape

18 December 2025
|By sg@jef.eu

Resolution submitted by: JEF Political Commission 2 – Internal European Affairs.
Adopted at the online Federal Committee (FC Home) on 25 October 2020.
Amended and re-adopted by the Federal Committee in Malta on 19 March 2023.
Amended and re-adopted by the European Congress in Strasbourg on 16 November 2025.

JEF Europe,

  • Recognising the important role free media plays as a fourth power of government, ensuring openness and controlling EU and national politicians in their work;

  • Recognising that disinformation is a global phenomenon influencing societies across the world;

  • Noting with concern that 88% of Europeans express concern about fake news and online manipulation based on the State of the Digital Decade package;

  • Recognising with concern the role of disinformation in influencing the public discussion about certain topics, including but not limited to migration, by not only distorting the reality of facts but also fostering stereotypes, discrimination and prejudices;

  • Emphasising also the importance of appropriate contextualization and the completeness of information, and appropriate methodology in compiling that information, in addition to ensuring factualness, for opinion formation and decision making;

  • Believing that one of the best ways to foster a public discussion based on real facts is to be more transparent about how political decisions are made, especially within the EU institutions;

  • Acknowledging the limits of national regulation aimed at social media platforms and other online public spaces, now mostly self-regulated by the platform owners, that are guided by prevailing economic, social and political interests;

  • Taking note of the work of the EU institutions in tackling disinformation, namely the EU’s joint and coordinated action against disinformation, including but not limited to initiatives such as the Code of Practice, the Action Plan Against Disinformation and the Rapid Alert System;

  • Expressing its appreciation for EU institutions making it their key priority to strengthen the resilience of the Union’s democratic system by implementing the Action Plan Against Disinformation;

  • Acknowledging that platforms have taken steps to improve transparency and moderation policies, but noting research showing inconsistencies in reporting, weak enforcement around elections, and insufficient comparability across platforms, and therefore stressing the need for independent audits and standardised transparency requirements;

  • Noting with concern persistent shortcomings in the implementation of the 2022 Code of Practice on Disinformation, which has since been integrated into the binding framework of the Digital Services Act (DSA) as a Code of Conduct, and highlighting the need for independent audits, enforcement, and penalties for non-compliance;

  • Encouraging the efforts done by the EEAS East Stratcom Task Force, and its “EUvsDisinfo” portal aimed at identifying pro-Kremlin disinformation;

  • Recognising the importance of the work done by independent fact-checkers in debunking disinformation in real time, notably such initiatives as the International Fact-Checking Network and the European Digital Media Observatory, as well as other independent citizens’, civil society, and media initiatives;

  • Having regard to its resolution “Strengthening European Citizenship Education”;

  • Noting the urgent need for media literacy education across the EU, to educate citizens about disinformation and other types of information disorders, and give them the tools to analyse media content, specifically news, limiting the need for debunking false information post-factum;

  • Noting with satisfaction the establishment of JEF Europe’s pool of trainers, trained, in the first place, on media literacy;

  • Noting with concern that three-quarters of young Europeans report having encountered disinformation online;

  • Further emphasising the need for more European citizenship education, and recognising the success JEF Europe has achieved in the past 30 years with its Europe at School programme;

  • Emphasising the responsibility of every individual to carefully analyse the information with which they are provided, before sharing it further, while reaffirming our commitment to the freedom of expression;

  • Reaffirming the responsibility of media outlets to provide verified content to its audience, and be at the forefront of the fight against disinformation;

  • Condemning the democratic backsliding, for example the recent political developments in Georgia following the parliamentary elections of 2024, and reaffirming the need to support independent and free media in order to safeguard pluralism of opinion;

  • Highlighting the importance of independent foreign media coverage in restrictive regimes and applauding the difficult work done by several media outlets under these difficult circumstances;

  • Convinced that free and fair elections are the cornerstone of democracy, and should not be influenced by malevolent foreign or domestic actors, both public and private;

  • Appreciating the work done by the European Commission for the European Democracy Action Plan to ensure fair elections and transparent advertising online;

  • Noting with concern that some Member States have failed to fully designate or empower their Digital Services Coordinators as required by the DSA, weakening the EU’s capacity to enforce obligations on Very Large Online Platforms and Search Engines;

  • Noting with satisfaction the European Parliament’s action regarding the Special European Democracy Shield committee (EUDS) on foreign interference in all democratic processes in the EU, including disinformation;

  • Welcoming the entry into force of the Regulation on transparency and targeting of political advertising (2024);

  • Disapproving of state-sponsored disinformation campaigns, which took place and continue to take place in various EU Member States;

  • Deeply concerned about the persistent interference of the Russian Federation in Eastern European elections through the weaponisation of disinformation and manipulation of public opinion, aimed at undermining trust in democratic institutions, electoral integrity, and the stability of neighbouring states;

  • Condemning the strategic use of information control and influence operations by the People’s Republic of China, including the promotion of state-sponsored narratives abroad and the export of digital authoritarian models, which threaten media freedom, global information integrity, and the independence of democratic societies;

  • Deeply concerned about the spread of disinformation propagated by the U.S. President Donald Trump, whose public statements have contributed to the erosion of trust in European institutions, the questioning of transatlantic cooperation, and the legitimisation of Eurosceptic disinformation campaigns across the continent;

  • Recognising the emerging threat posed by AI-generated disinformation, including deepfakes, synthetic media and generative automated content, which risks further undermining trust in democratic institutions, and underlining the need for clear obligations on labelling, detection, and traceability of AI-generated content;

  • Welcoming the adoption of the Directive against Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPS), that aims at preventing abusive and unfounded procedures against journalists and whistleblowers;

  • Welcoming the entry into force of the European Media Freedom Act (2024), which establishes safeguards for editorial independence and media pluralism across the EU;

  • Noting with concern that the spread of disinformation negatively affects, in particular, the trust in the EU and other supranational organisations (e.g. the World Health Organisation – WHO and NATO), as they are often the main targets of generalised disinformation campaigns;

  • Convinced that supranational institutions and organisations, in particular, are the target of disinformation campaigns due to resurging nationalism across the world and EU Member States, and because of their foundational purpose of providing a defense against authoritarianism and war;

  • Reaffirming its belief that only democratic and multilevel governance can provide the institutional and political framework for democratic societies in an interconnected world.

JEF Europe, therefore,

  1. Calls upon all actors – such as international and EU institutions, national governments and civil society organisations – to establish a common terminology while talking about disinformation, and avoid using weaponised terms such as “fake news”;

  2. Calls for a coordinated strategy to fighting disinformation across the EU and Member States;

  3. Calls for the plurality of opinions and diverse views to be the basis of public discourse, provided that they are based on verified facts; as well as the plurality of free and independent media and press that contribute to the public debate;

  4. Calls, furthermore, for careful consideration of actions taken to fight disinformation, to avoid any risk of censorship or other disproportionate restrictions on the freedom of expression, while ensuring accountability, transparency, and respect for fundamental rights;

  5. Calls for enhanced transparency of online news and its origin, and the way it is produced, sponsored and disseminated, in order to allow audiences to assess the content they consume;

  6. Calls on social media platforms and other tech-giants to take further responsibility for countering the spread of disinformation online;

  7. Stresses the need for further actions by social media platforms and digital companies to enhance transparency in political advertising, and sponsored political or commercial content, especially when it comes to democratic elections;

  8. Calls for EU-level independent audits of platforms’ disinformation mitigation measures, ensuring comparability and public accountability across Very Large Online Platforms;

  9. Emphasises the need for comparable media literacy and critical thinking in school curricula across the EU, coordinated on the European level, to help counter disinformation, strengthen digital skills, and help users better understand the current media environment;

  10. Stresses the need for comprehensive and critical education on European history, including the existence of different historical perspectives and the ability to recognise the weaponisation of narratives for political purposes;

  11. Stresses the need to support independent professional journalism and news-based media outlets, including with public funding whose allocation is overseen by an independent agency, to be able to operate in and keep providing reliable, diverse and accurate information to citizens, including in countries where media pluralism is under attack;

  12. Calls for the EU and the Member States to support and sustain local newsrooms, as they have an essential role in preventing information vacuums where disinformation can thrive;

  13. Calls for greater transparency of media ownership structures to safeguard against concentration of power, hidden political or financial influence, and foreign interference in the European information landscape;

  14. Calls on Member States to efficiently implement the Directive against Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPS) to ensure that the work of journalists is not silenced by powerful actors;

  15. Calls for strategic, coordinated and objective-driven communication of the EU and its Member States internally and towards third-countries, especially about their own powers and decision-making processes;

  16. Calls on EU institutions to take measures ensuring the protection of the rule of law, to prevent the erosion of freedom of speech via national laws;

  17. Calls on EU institutions to support free independent media and journalism in countries experiencing democratic backsliding, as well as in authoritarian states;

  18. Encourages EU institutions to closely cooperate with civil society actors and the scientific community to ensure better outreach of factually correct and accurate information to citizens;

  19. Calls for a united EU response to disinformation campaigns of certain state actors, including China, Russia and the USA, which aim to weaken citizens’ trust in democratic institutions and supranational organisations like the EU;

  20. Calls further for the strengthening of the EU’s foreign interference and hybrid threats strategy to protect EU elections and democratic processes from malign influence;

  21. Calls upon all Member States to ensure that their Digital Services Coordinators are fully operational, independent, and resourced, to guarantee proper enforcement of the DSA;

  22. Calls for the swift and effective enforcement of the AI Act provisions on transparency and labelling of AI-generated and AI-manipulated content, ensuring platforms develop reliable detection tools and provide users with clear and accessible warnings;

  23. Calls for stronger support to local and minority-language media outlets to counter disinformation campaigns targeted at specific communities.