Fighting against disinformation while ensuring the right to freedom of expression

Projects should contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• EU institutions, national decision-makers, practitioners in relevant sectors, civil society organisations and other societal actors are better equipped to confront and prevent different forms of mis- and disinformation and information manipulation, while protecting and respecting the freedom of expression and academic freedom.
• EU institutions and national decision-makers have a better understanding of the categories of stakeholders opposing policies and initiatives aimed at combating disinformation and information manipulation, including understanding the drivers behind their narratives, and are better equipped to engage with them.
• EU institutions and national decision-makers understand how digital media shapes public opinion and regulate it without compromising citizens' rights to information, media freedom, privacy and data protection, and protection from harm.

In addition, projects should contribute to at least one of the following expected outcomes:  

• Media, education and security practitioners are increasingly knowledgeable about tools and legal remedies to counteract the narratives of those opposing policies and initiatives designed to combat disinformation, and to recognise and counter their drivers.
• EU institutions and national decision-makers have a better understanding of the role of independent media and the role and importance of “media dissemination hubs” and professional “mediators” who facilitate citizens’ access to professionally produced content and analyse the crucial aspect of access to information (such as availability, accessibility, affordability, comprehensibility, transparency, inclusivity, privacy and data protection, and security).
• EU institutions, national decision-makers, and practitioners in the media sector have a better understanding of astroturfing, its use in spreading mis- and disinformation and information manipulation, and are equipped with tools and policy recommendations to recognize and counter this phenomenon.
• EU institutions, national decision-makers, practitioners in the media sector, and other relevant societal actors have adequate educational materials to understand how to design and implement initiatives to combat mis- and disinformation and information manipulation without harming freedom of expression.

Mis- and disinformation and information manipulation can thwart political and societal responses to external challenges, such as climate change, public health, or migration. Solutions to such challenges, to be successful, must be based on evidence.

Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right that involves the right to hold and express one's opinions, as well as the right to receive and impart information and ideas, without prior authorization (censorship) or other forms of interference from the government or any other form of public authority. Therefore, freedom of expression is crucial to democracy and a key value of the European project, and it is closely linked to the role of the independent (news) media, a key pillar for checks and balances in a democratic system^[1].

Proposals should investigate how the functioning of the media systems (in particular the data-driven information systems, that use data as a core component of their operation, decision-making processes, and overall functionality) favours disinformation, including gendered disinformation and anti LGBTIQ rhetoric, by creating an optimal environment for its creation, diffusion and proliferation.

Proposals are encouraged to look into the market incentives for media that promote mis- and disinformation and information manipulation, such as decline in viewers and incentives to focus on content that promotes engagement over factuality. This trend is driven by the need to catch audience attention in a competitive media landscape, which often prioritizes sensationalism and emotional reactions over accuracy.

Proposals should also explore how regulations aimed at countering disinformation can be conceived in compliance with citizens' fundamental rights, such as the right to freedom of expression, and preserving independent and pluralistic news media.

Proposals should investigate how to develop a diverse and healthy online (news) media sphere, through the design and management of trust indicators and comparison between facts and opinions on social media platforms, browsers, and websites, to help citizens, particularly children and youth, distinguish content produced with journalistic standards from non-sourced content and opinions. Such investigation should consider existing initiatives such as browser plugins and journalism trust indicators and should be developed/tested with media organisations. Therefore, research activities should involve media organisations and/or media practitioners, as well as information spreaders (individuals or entities that actively disseminate information across various platforms and channels, such as influencers, among others), in consultation and piloting activities to develop theoretical models and policy recommendations. The involvement of one or more of these categories of stakeholders is particularly important to develop innovative methodologies and solutions to counter growing phenomena, such as astroturfing. Astroturfing misleads by impersonating grassroots support through fake accounts or paid actors, amplifying visibility and public influence of misleading media content. It undermines trust in genuine online exchanges, manipulates public opinion, and reinforces echo chambers. This misuse of digital platforms spreads disinformation, undermining online debate integrity.

Proposals are also encouraged to investigate the role of professional “mediators”, i.e. individuals and entities involved in the development, structuring, and dissemination of media content: journalists, editors, producers, and broadcasters. These “mediators” play an important role in understanding and filtering information before it reaches the public and are critical in developing narratives and shaping public discourse. Moreover, proposals are encouraged to investigate the role of "media dissemination hubs”, which distribute information and influence public opinion and public discourse through news, entertainment, and other types of content (such as platforms similar to traditional media, newspapers, TV, radio, and digital channels, namely social media, news websites).

Proposals should develop policy recommendations and methodologies for how to define and provide legal safeguards for protecting open civic discourse in the face of, but not limited to, Holocaust denial, hate speech or incitement to violence.

Proposals should build on past EU-funded projects, and seek cooperation with on-going ones, as well as plan to exploit potential complementarities with project(s) funded under HORIZON-CL2-2022-DEMOCRACY-01-05 — Evolution of political extremism and its influence on contemporary social and political dialogue; HORIZON-CL2-2022-DEMOCRACY-01-06: Media for democracy – democratic media; HORIZON-CL2-2022-DEMOCRACY-01-07: Politics and the impact of online social networks and new media; 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 topic and other relevant projects are strongly encouraged.

Research activities should involve a wide range of stakeholders and societal actors, including non-scientific and non-academic ones, such as, but not limited to public bodies, policymakers, private corporates, media organisations, non-governmental organisations, civil society organisations, fact-checkers, educational bodies, education and security practitioners, libraries and other cultural heritage institutions. The latter, with their extensive collections - including newspaper archives and web archives from recent decades - can provide valuable historical insights and help study the evolution of disinformation practices over time. Proposals are encouraged to make use of participative methodologies and experimental methods.

Research activities should also involve entities which are signatories of the Code of Practice on Disinformation, and entities which are subject to the Digital Services Act (DSA) and to the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA).

Research activities could also involve signatories of the Code of Conduct on Disinformation, media companies, public and private broadcasters, online news platforms, and digital services object of the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), and other private entities, such as providers of intermediaries’ services under the Digital Services Act (DSA).

Where applicable, proposals should leverage the data and services available through European Research Infrastructures federated under the European Open Science Cloud, as well as data from relevant Data Spaces. Particular efforts should be made to ensure that the data produced in the context of this topic is FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable).

[1] Article 11 of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights and article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provide the guiding definitions of this right, which encompasses also the freedom of artistic expression: https://fra.europa.eu/en/eu-charter/article/11-freedom-expression-and-information and https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights