Developing a better understanding of information suppression by state authorities as an example of foreign information manipulation and interference
HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions
Basic Information
- Identifier
- HORIZON-CL2-2023-DEMOCRACY-01-02
- Programme
- Standing up for democracy
- Programme Period
- 2021 - 2027
- Status
- Closed (31094503)
- Opening Date
- December 14, 2022
- Deadline
- March 14, 2023
- Deadline Model
- single-stage
- Budget
- €9,000,000
- Min Grant Amount
- €2,000,000
- Max Grant Amount
- €3,000,000
- Expected Number of Grants
- 3
- Keywords
- Social sciences and humanitiesGlobal and transnational governance, internationalInternational CooperationdisinformationHORIZON-CL2-2023-DEMOCRACY-01-02Foreign interferencesocietal resilienceinformation supressionhybrid threats
Description
Projects should contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:
- Better understanding on how to protect fundamental rights and freedoms from possible threats stemming from the use of information suppression as part of Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI[1]) by authoritarian regimes.
- In-depth conceptual and practical understanding of how authoritarian states worldwide have used and use information suppression – and the specific Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs) involved – in their foreign policy, foreign information manipulation operations.
- Increased understanding of the behavioural and societal effect – both short- and long-term – of information suppression.
- Develop policy recommendations, toolkits and methodologies to detect and address information suppression in the EU, associated and third countries.
Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) goes beyond the much-used concept of “disinformation”, which focusses on the active promotion of messages and pushing out of false/misleading content. FIMI also includes other aspects of how the information environment and civic discourse can be manipulated, notably through the suppression of independent and critical voices. Information suppression can take many forms but has the opposite goal to active promotion of messages. It aims to eliminate – or suppress – from the public sphere certain voices or messages. Information suppression by authoritarian actors can be domestic but also reach outside of their borders. Domestic information suppression has been observed, for instance, surrounding the Russian invasion of Ukraine with a large scale crackdown on freedom of speech and freedom of the media (including social media) and cutting internet connections and access to mobile data use. Information suppression is also systematically employed by the Chinese Communist Party domestically but also outside of its borders.
Different facets of information suppression should be examined by means of multidisciplinary approaches bringing together historical, social, legal, political, behavioural and communication disciplines among others. Which countries outside the EU have used information suppression in a systematic manner as part of their policies and how could a conceptual definition of information suppression look like to incorporate all parts of such activity? This should include a collection of cases and examples of information suppression by different actors to establish such a conceptual definition and create an evidence base. The research should also look at both the domestic and cross-border dimensions of suppression and catalogue the tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) that have been used to suppress information by different actors. This should focus on different aspects, ranging from the individual (harassment, intimidation, etc.)[2] to the society (restriction of fundamental rights and freedoms, including repression of women and minority rights) to the media (restriction of media freedom, pressuring foreign media outlets or journalists), academia (instigating self-censorship, using visa or archive access to pressure foreign researchers) as well as pressure on private industry (forcing social media companies to comply with national, authoritarian rules; using economic coercion to force international companies to be silent on certain issues, etc). A compendium of such TTPs should be created, with examples of such TTPs to document their use.
Information suppression can target any critical and independent voice; however, targeting the diaspora outside of the country’s territory has been observed as one vector. The research should generate an understanding of how diaspora communities are being targeted by information suppression and how FIMI actors try to co-opt them as agents of information suppression.
This research will generate a better understanding of the functioning of information suppression as well as its behavioural and societal effects (e.g. self-censorship etc.). This research should contribute to an analytical methodology of how to identify and analyse information suppression in its different forms; it should give policy recommendations on how to reduce the vulnerability to information suppression, how to protect the targets of information suppression and how to respond to it. The policy recommendations, toolkits and methodologies on how to identify information suppression and protect against it should be made accessible to civil society and stakeholders.
Proposals are encouraged to develop links and eventually use outcomes from the projects financed in particular under HORIZON-CL3-2021-FCT-01-03: Disinformation and fake news are combated and trust in the digital world is raised. Clustering and cooperation with other selected projects under this call and other relevant projects are strongly encouraged.
[1] Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) describes a mostly non-illegal pattern of behaviour in the information domain that threatens or has the potential to negatively impact values, procedures and political processes. Such activity is manipulative in character, conducted in an intentional and coordinated manner, often in relation to other hybrid activities. Actors of such activity can be state or non-state actors, including their proxies inside and outside of their own territory. FIMI is to be understood within the wider context of hybrid threats, of which it is one concrete modality. A conceptual model of hybrid threats can be found in “The landscape of hybrid threats” (https://op.europa.eu/s/vUUk )
[2]See the Commission’s initiative of 27 April 2022 to protect journalists and human rights defenders against the phenomenon of Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation (SLAPPs).
Destination & Scope
The invasion of Ukraine by Russia, which unfolds ominously while this work programme is prepared, has deep and extraordinary consequences on European security, international relations, as well as trust in democratic systems and in the media. However, it cannot be seen as an isolated event. It is part of an accelerated and ever intensifying movement of rejection and challenge of democracy and of the liberal international order. Indexes and reports measuring the overall situation of democracies in the world confirm their increased fragility and vulnerability over the last years: a process labelled as a “long democratic recession”, a shift in the nature of “autocratisation” or a “global expansion of authoritarian rule”, which quantitatively translates into the increase of the number of countries moving towards authoritarianism and the overall decline of the quality of democracies. [[ Cfr. the latest reports from Freedom House or the V-Dem Institute:
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2021/democracy-under-siege;
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2022/global-expansion-authoritarian-rule
http://www.v-dem.net/static/website/files/dr/dr_2021.pdf;
https://v-dem.net/media/publications/dr_2022.pdf]]
Interdisciplinary research on the past and present challenges to and facilitators of democracy can help to understand them better, with a view to strengthen their resilience and stability. It will also help to counter the shift from governance based on expertise, rules-based multilateralism and consensual policymaking towards majoritarianism, unilateralism, nationalism, populism and polarisation. It will foster democracy’s further development with a view to enhancing representation, participation, openness, pluralism, tolerance, the effectiveness of public policy, non-discrimination, civic engagement, the protection of fundamental rights and the rule of law. These reflect the European Union’s values as defined in Article 2 of the EU Treaty[[ Consolidated version of the Treaty on European Union, Title 1 “Common Provisions”, Article 2: “The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail”.]].
Expected impact:
Proposals for topics under this destination should set out a credible pathway to contributing to the following expected impacts of the Horizon Europe Strategic Plan:
- Democratic governance is reinvigorated by improving the accountability, transparency, effectiveness and trustworthiness of rule-of-law based institutions and policies and through the expansion of active and inclusive citizenship empowered by the safeguarding of fundamental rights.
The implementation of the research activities of the destination will assist in the re-invigoration and modernisation of democratic governance. The aim is to develop evidence-based innovations, policies and policy recommendations, as well as institutional frameworks that expand political participation, social dialogue, civic engagement, gender equality and inclusiveness. Activities will also contribute to enhancing the transparency, effectiveness, accountability and legitimacy of public policymaking. They will help improving trust in democratic institutions, safeguarding liberties and the rule of law and protecting democracy from multidimensional threats. Rich historical, cultural and philosophical perspectives, including a comparative dimension, will set the frame for soundly understanding present developments and help to map future pathways. In the medium to long term, the knowledge, data, scientifically robust recommendations and innovations generated will enhance decision-making on all aspects relevant to democratic governance. As the Destination aims directly at citizen engagement and at producing lasting change, it is of particular importance that the research and innovation actions promote the highest standards of transparency and openness. When applicable, it is encouraged to open up the process, criteria, methodologies and data to civil society in the course of the research.
Eligibility & Conditions
General conditions
1. Admissibility conditions: described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes
Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System
2. Eligible countries: described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes
A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.
3. Other eligibility conditions: described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes
4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion: described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes
5. Evaluation and award:
-
Award criteria, scoring and thresholds are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes
-
Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual
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Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement: described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes
6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants: described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes
Specific conditions
7. Specific conditions: described in the [specific topic of the Work Programme]
Documents
Call documents:
Standard application form — call-specific application form is available in the Submission System
Standard application form (HE RIA, IA)
Standard evaluation form — will be used with the necessary adaptations
Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA)
MGA
Additional documents:
HE Main Work Programme 2023–2024 – 1. General Introduction
HE Main Work Programme 2023–2024 – 5. Culture, creativity and inclusive society
HE Main Work Programme 2023–2024 – 12. Missions
HE Main Work Programme 2023–2024 – 13. General Annexes
HE Framework Programme and Rules for Participation Regulation 2021/695
HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764
Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment
EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement
Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual
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Latest Updates
EVALUATION results
HORIZON-CL2-2023-DEMOCRACY-01
Published: 07.12.2022
Deadline: 14.03.2023
Available budget: EUR 75 000 000
The results of the evaluation are as follows:
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 97
Number of inadmissible proposals: 2
Number of ineligible proposals: 0
Number of above-threshold proposals: 58
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 184 724 528,25
We recently informed the applicants about the evaluation results for their proposals.
For questions, please contact the Research Enquiry Service.
The call HORIZON-CL2-2023-DEMOCRACY-01 has closed on 14.03.2023.
97 proposals have been submitted.
The breakdown per topic is:
- HORIZON-CL2-2023-DEMOCRACY-01-01: 10 proposals
- HORIZON-CL2-2023-DEMOCRACY-01-02: 5 proposals
- HORIZON-CL2-2023-DEMOCRACY-01-03: 4 proposals
- HORIZON-CL2-2023-DEMOCRACY-01-04: 24 proposals
- HORIZON-CL2-2023-DEMOCRACY-01-05: 11 proposals
- HORIZON-CL2-2023-DEMOCRACY-01-06: 7 proposals
- HORIZON-CL2-2023-DEMOCRACY-01-07: 19 proposals
- HORIZON-CL2-2023-DEMOCRACY-01-08: 17 proposals
Evaluation results are expected to be communicated in July 2023.