it has been obtained directly from the source. In most cases,
however, they are part of a disinformation campaign, since the
dissemination occurs in a self-serving manner, is decontextualized,
and tainted leaks are added, which are often unnoticed but produce
intentional alterations.
The trial of four suspects accused of shooting down Malaysian
Airlines MH17 flight with an anti-aircraft missile began in The
Hague on 9 March. A month earlier, several media published news
items pointing at “newly leaked documents” that allegedly proved
that no BUK missile system (identified by investigators as having
caused the air crash) was in the area of the accident.
HOW DOES THE EUROPEAN UNION PROTECT ITSELF?
Interference in electoral processes can be either targeted at
voters, through campaigns to influence how they will vote, or at
electronic systems, to modify databases that feed the census, the
vote counting or simply to steal data.
The mere suspicion of the intention of manipulating the results
of a vote generates a feeling of mistrust in the electorate that can
undermine the legitimacy of the process.
The European Union has been forced to act given increased
cases of interference in electoral processes, in particular, Brexit,
the U.S. presidential elections and the French elections.
The EU Global Strategy of 2016, the year of the Brexit
referendum, established a series of priorities, chief among which
is the security of the EU against current threats. In order to
counter threats, it presents a series of improvements in defence,
cybernetic, anti-terrorist, energy and strategic communication
capabilities.
The latter must be able, among other things, to rapidly and
objectively refute disinformation, promote an open research and
media environment both within and outside the European Union
and develop its capability to take action through social networks.
The European Union’s Action Plan against Disinformation
defines disinformation as “verifiably false or misleading information
created, presented and disseminated for economic gain or to
intentionally deceive the public, and may cause public harm. Public
harm includes threat to democratic processes as well as to public
goods such as Union citizens’ health, environment or security.
Disinformation does not include inadvertent errors, satire and
parody, or clearly identified partisan news and commentary”.
The Union’s coordinated response presented in the plan is
based on four pillars:
•Improving the capabilities of Union institutions to detect, analyse
and expose disinformation.
22 Revista Española de Defensa August 2020
Lecoustier/European Comission