Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Cláudia Ascensão Nunes
“The European Union has just unveiled the so-called European Democracy Shield. The name, while promising, claims to ‘protect’ democracy on the basis of two pillars which, on principle, should raise concerns: combating ‘disinformation’ and ‘foreign interference.’ To that end, the EU will create a new European Centre for Democratic Resilience, intended to collect data from Member States on information manipulation; foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI); and phenomena classified as disinformation. The same package also includes a European network of independent fact-checkers and a European Digital Media Observatory, which will be endowed with monitoring and analytical capacities during elections or moments of crisis. Regarding free elections and the risk of foreign interference, the Commission additionally proposes to finance ‘independent journalism.’ The irony that journalism financed by political institutions can never be genuinely independent seems lost on the Commission.” (11/24/25)