Disinformation and media literacy
Tackling foreign information manipulation and interference, and enhancing societal resilience against these threats, are pressing issues for the European Union. Discover which tools exist to help identify and counter disinformation and misinformation.
Context
Foreign information manipulation and interference is a serious threat to European democracies. It can undermine democratic institutions and processes by preventing people from making informed decisions or discouraging them from voting. It can polarise society by pitting communities against each other.
A recent Eurobarometer survey revealed that 73% of EU citizens report that they regularly encounter disinformation, and 86% agree that it poses a major threat to democracy.
Some third countries are using strategic and coordinated dissemination of disinformation to amplify social or political tensions, fuel polarisation, and erode trust in democratic institutions.
The rise of Artificial Intelligence has made it even easier to produce and disseminate disinformation at scale, and, at the same time, it has become even harder to detect and more dangerous.
In response to foreign information manipulation and interference targeting EU policies, the European Commission is strengthening its strategic communication, in line with actions taken by other European institutions.
As part of a comprehensive response, it is also important to guarantee media freedom and pluralism and ensure that citizens have access to quality news and information they can trust.
Rural communities, like the whole of society, are prone to disinformation, and the issue has been noted as one of the actions in the framework of the EU's new Vision for Agriculture and Food.
Local actors and networks – such as national and regional Managing Authorities, National Networks, and Local Action Groups – have a role in, and the potential to, reach and enter into dialogue with citizens to raise awareness and promote media literacy, contributing to a fact-based and respectful public dialogue. CAP funding can also support projects promoting media literacy and digital literacy in rural areas.
What is disinformation?
Disinformation is false or misleading content that is spread with the intention to deceive or secure economic or political gain, and which may cause public harm.
Misinformation is false or misleading content shared without harmful intent, although the effects can still be harmful.
Disinformation techniques include manipulated images, fabricated graphs, or so-called ‘deepfake’ videos, mixing true and false information, imitating the legitimate news media's websites, and interviews of ‘fake’ eyewitnesses, as well as real and fake social media profiles that amplify disinformation articles, coordinated by organised disinformation networks of ‘news’ websites and social media profiles.
Some governments and organisations engage in strategic and coordinated dissemination of disinformation, which falls under foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI).
The presentation “Protecting democracy against disinformation”, delivered at the 3rd meeting of the Subgroup on LEADER and territorial development by the European Digital Media Observatory, includes some examples of disinformation targeting rural areas.
Protecting Democracy against Disinformation - Paolo Cesarini, European Digital Media Observatory
(PDF – 963.18 KB)
What can we do?
- Be critical – especially on social media, check sources before sharing further.
- Test your knowledge: see if you can Spot the Troll, or check out Gapminder’s misconception quizzes.
- Check out the resources to promote awareness of disinformation and media literacy:
- 6 tips to spot and stop information manipulation
- Stop Manipulation and stay safe online
- How disinformation works – videos by the European Parliament
- Learn - EUvsDisinfo - Tools to understand and respond to disinformation (available in EN RU UA DE SI).
- Media literacy training:
- EDMO offers a list per Member State of regional hubs and national media literacy organisations which can be contacted, e.g. to organise media literacy training.
- Toolkit for teachers — How to spot and fight disinformation (European Commission) - A practical educational tool aimed at teachers and students (15-18 years) on spotting disinformation.
- Calls for proposals:
- Report disinformation when you spot it:
- The general advice is not to engage directly with disinformation online, since even criticism can boost its visibility. Instead, report disinformation through the tools available on the platform you are visiting (e.g. functions such as ‘report post’ or request a ‘community note’) or to fact-checking organisations in your country.
Useful Resources
- Answers to your questions: EU's common agricultural policy – A European Commission webpage addressing the most frequent questions on the CAP.
- EDMO Fact-Checking Briefs – An online repository of resources, regularly updated.
- Democratic Defence – Strengthening the social democratic dimensions of collective security in an era of strategic competition (June 2026)
- Factsheet on European Democracy Shield (2025) – To further boost our collective capacity to counter information manipulation and disinformation and strengthen our resilience through a whole-of-society approach.
- ‘The Fact-Checking Initiatives in the EU: A Diverse Ecosystem Against Disinformation’ (2025) - Examines how fact-checking is organised across EU countries, including the role of AI, media literacy and public service media.
- ‘Tackling disinformation and information manipulation’ (2024) - A recent EU publication on disinformation, its effects, and responses.
- ‘Research and innovation to counter disinformation, foreign manipulation, and interference’ (2023) - A factsheet by the European Research Executive Agency focused on EU-funded research and innovation projects addressing disinformation and foreign manipulation.
- ‘The Impact of Disinformation on the Functioning of the Rule of Law and Democratic Processes in the EU’ (2021) - This article addresses how disinformation and propaganda threaten democracy, the rule of law and public trust in the EU.
- Disinformation - European Commission factsheet / Action Plan (2019): background on the action plan and rapid alert system.
- ‘Report on the implementation of the Communication ‘Tackling online disinformation: a European approach’ (2018) - A detailed report on how the 2018 EU Communication on disinformation is being implemented.
