Status: 08.03.2022 4:17 p.m
Against the background of the war in Ukraine, the EU wants to take action against the authors of deliberate false information. The focus is on Russian actors and state media such as Russia Today. Details of the sanctions are still unclear.
In the future, the EU also wants to take action against the authors of disinformation with sanctions. “I will propose a new mechanism that will allow us to sanction these malicious disinformation actors,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
Russian fake news in focus
The background to his initiative is the war in Ukraine, in which disinformation is also being used. Russia’s attack on Ukraine makes “painfully clear” why the EU needs to target foreign manipulation of information more, Borrell said.
It is about preventing the manipulation of societies. He cited the Russian state television Russia Today and the Sputnik news agency as examples. These would “manipulate and mislead the Russian people about Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.” Independent media are now practically abolished in Russia.
“They Bomb Her Mind”
Borrell accused the Kremlin of systematic lying. It is said, for example, that the Ukrainian authorities bombed their own people so that they could then blame Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is portrayed as a Nazi and a war criminal.
In this war, not only buildings, infrastructure and people would be bombed, Borrell said. “They are bombing their minds,” he said, referring to the Russian population and state propaganda in Russia.
It is unclear what sanctions could look like
As possible sanctions, Borrell brought the freezing of assets and travel to the European Union to ban those responsible. He did not give any further details, not even when the sanctions could come into force.