EU: 2024 will be crucial in the fight against misinformation

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has warned that 2024 will be a "critical year" to combat disinformation from actors such as Russia as two billion people around the world face elections, AFP reported.
"Fifty percent of the world's adult population will be called to vote - in the European Parliament, in the US, in India, in many places around the world," Borrell said.
"Elections will become a prime target for malicious foreign actors," he added
In the EU, some 400 million people are eligible to vote in June to elect the bloc's European Parliament, with far-right parties expected to make big gains.
"One of the most significant threats of our time is not about a bomb that can kill you, but about a poison that can colonize your mind and how to deal with it," Borrell said.
The annual report, published by the EU's diplomatic service, analyzed 750 cases of foreign manipulation between December 2022 and November last year.
Russia and, to a lesser extent, China, have been named as the main culprits, with the main target being Ukraine, where Moscow is trying to justify its invasion.
Among the public figures targeted are not only politicians and officials, but also celebrities such as Margot Robbie and Nicolas Cage, whose images have been used to reinforce the false information.
"The most frequently used platforms were Telegram and X," the report said.
The rapid spread of artificial intelligence in creating fake videos, photos and texts has raised concerns that the cutting-edge technology could be used to create a flood of "more credible" disinformation.
The report says that so far the use of artificial intelligence remains "minimal but attention-grabbing".
"The use of AI in foreign intelligence manipulation and intervention operations seen in 2023 represents an evolution rather than a revolution," the report added.
According to the report, misinformation purveyors may for now be trying to inflate the perception that AI poses a major threat in order to undermine trust.
The report outlines a number of measures that can be taken in an attempt to counter disinformation ahead of the upcoming elections.
These include faster detection of disinformation networks, limiting the "amplification of manipulated content" and "preemptive debunking" of lies before they are spread.
"Malicious content is spreading like a cancer and putting the health of our democracy at risk. But we have the tools to effectively fight this disease. We have the capacity, we need more," Borrell said. /BGNES