Disinformation has been present in human communication since the dawn of civilisation and the creation of organised societies. What has changed in recent years, however, is its sheer scale and the speed with which false or misleading information can reach its intended and unintended audiences through social media and new technologies. This may cause public harm. The European External Action Service’s three strategic communications task forces have improved the EU’s capacity to forecast and respond to disinformation in neighbouring countries. However, they are not adequately resourced or evaluated, and their mandates do not cover some emerging threats. With the code of practice, the Commission has established a pioneering framework for engagement with online platforms. We found that the code of practice fell short of its goal of holding online platforms accountable for their actions and their role in actively tackling disinformation. The report also highlights the absence of a media literacy strategy that includes tackling disinformation, and the fragmentation of policy and actions to increase capacity to access, understand and interact with media and communications. Finally, they found there was a risk that the newly created European Digital Media Observatory would not achieve its objectives.Based on these conclusions, they recommend that the European External Action Service and the Commission: improve the coordination and accountability of EU actions against disinformation; improve the operational arrangements of the StratCom division and its task forces; increase participation in the rapid alert system by Member States and online platforms; improve the monitoring and accountability of online platforms; adopt an EU media literacy strategy that includes tackling disinformation; take steps to enable the European Digital Media Observatory to fulfil its ambitious objectives.

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