European Parliament monitors election interference and disruption

The European Parliament has set up a special committee to monitor the undue interference in elections and democratic decision-making in the EU member states. The committee will be officially installed in Brussels on Monday. The initiative comes amid concerns about recent incidents of foreign interference in European elections.

In a joint letter, twelve EU member states, including Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands, recently called on the European Commission to use the powers of the Digital Services Act (DSA) to protect the integrity of European elections. They stress the need for urgent and collective action against foreign interference.

The new parliamentary committee will not only focus on veiled propaganda by foreign powers, but also on sponsored fake news spreading by anonymous social media accounts. Such activities pose a direct threat to the stability and sovereignty of the EU member states.

A recent example of such interference is the presidential election in Romania. In December, the Constitutional Court in Bucharest had to cancel the first round of that election due to suspicions of Russian influence via TikTok. This incident highlights the urgency of measures against foreign interference.

There are also concerns about pro-Russian interference in Georgia. Although not yet a full-fledged EU member state, the country has close ties to the EU and such attempts at influence are worrying for democratic processes in the region.

The Digital Services Act (DSA) is a newly introduced EU legislation that requires major social media platforms, such as Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), to moderate and remove harmful content. Failure to do so could result in fines of up to 6% of annual global turnover. The DSA thus provides an important tool to combat the spread of disinformation and foreign interference.

The new parliamentary committee will work closely with the European Commission and the EU countries to address these threats. In addition to tackling foreign interference, the committee will also focus on internal threats, such as the spread of disinformation by domestic actors.