EU Commission to propose sanctions for spreading disinformation

Brussels (Brussels Morning) EU Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Věra Jourová announced sanctions aimed at limiting the spread of disinformation, DW reported yesterday.

Speaking in Brussels on Thursday, she announced the Commission would present draft regulations next year in view of how important it is to limit the influence of entities, state actors in particular, on elections within the EU. “I don’t want elections to be a competition in dirty methods,” Jourová stated in explaining why the Commission is looking to impose sanctions for the spread of fake news.

Jourová asserted that the EU Commission does not want to become the Ministry of Truth, but seeks to limit ability of countries like Russia and China to spread disinformation. The new rules, she said, should “ensure fair public debates”, adding that new communication technologies should be used for emancipation, not for disinformation.

Unnamed EU sources suggest the Commission will present the draft law in the second half of 2021. Any proposed sanctions would likely be in line with the EU’s cyber sanction regime that was first applied in July this year when visa bans and the freezing of assets were imposed on individuals and companies suspected of having attacked the bloc. The targets were mostly Chinese, North Korean and Russian citizens and entities involved in cyber attacks.