DISINFO: The EU confirms there was no foreign disinformation campaign in the European elections
SUMMARY
The European Union confirmed in the Progress Report on the Action Plan against Disinformation that no foreign disinformation campaign to influence the European elections was detected.
RESPONSE
This claim is a distortion of the actual report, taking the following sentence out of context: "Available evidence has not allowed us to identify a distinct cross-border disinformation campaign from external sources specifically targeting the European elections”. The next sentence provides further clarification: "However, the evidence collected revealed a continued and sustained disinformation activity by Russian sources aiming to suppress turnout and influence voter preferences”. It also says that the number of disinformation cases attributed to Russian sources and documented by the East Strategic Communication Task Force since January 2019 doubled as compared to the same period a year ago: 998 versus 434. Asked if the report doesn’t contradict itself, Security Commissioner Julian King said that disinformation aimed at dividing Europeans was "increasingly locally focused", which the report explains as follows: "Instead of conducting large-scale operations on digital platforms, these actors, in particular linked to Russian sources, now appeared to be opting for smaller-scale, localised operations that are harder to detect and expose." This claim follows a recurring disinformation narrative aiming to portray Russia as innocent and falsely accused of interference in other countries’ affairs. See other examples here, here and here.