The European Parliament’s Special Committee on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the European Union, including disinformation (INGE 2), met exceptionally on Thursday 29 September. Together with the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET), the Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE) and the delegation to the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, MEPs discussed the techniques used by the Kremlin to spread disinformation and the impact of this on European democratic processes. Michael Sheldon (Bellingcat) and Ross Burley (co-founder and Executive Director of the Centre for Information Resilience) were invited to share their expertise.
According to Michael Sheldon, Russian disinformation about the war in Ukraine is organised in two parts. On the one hand, it follows a long-term objective, which aims to portray Ukraine (its use of weapons, the refugees) as a danger to the West. On the other hand, it responds in the short term by casting a veil of confusion. Both stressed the importance of distinguishing between disinformation and influence operations.
“Disinformation is just one tentacle of the octopus. Russia is using its political, economic and military tools to spread its influence and disrupt [...] the whole world”, Mr Burley said. In his view, the promotion of open source data can help combat disinformation and bring the truth back into the digital world. Finally, he warned that Russian influence outside the European Union, playing on emotions and analogies between the current situation and colonialism, was more difficult to counter. (Original version in French by Hélène Seynaeve)