Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The deliberate and strategic targeting of European societies with false and manipulated information by certain foreign governments, their proxies and aligned groups, is an issue of concern. The objective of this online activity is to generate confusion, to sow division and fear, and to undermine trust in Government and in democratic institutions.

The second annual EEAS Report on Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference Threats published in January 2024 demonstrates the scale of the challenge. Between 1 December 2022 and 30 November 2023, the EEAS detected, investigated and encoded some 750 cases of Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference cases across the European Union.

There is significant focus at EU level on how best to counter this activity. As part of the 2022 Strategic Compass, the EU has agreed new EU Toolboxes on both Hybrid Threats and Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference. Together, these provide the EU with a suite of measures to be better able to identify, deter, mitigate and respond to disinformation and interference campaigns, including through the imposition of restrictive measures where appropriate.

The Toolboxes are part of a broader EU approach which include the work of the EEAS Stratcom teams, in particular EEAS Stratcom East, responsible for the EUvsDisinfo website, and regular exchanges between EU Member States and the EU institutions at both the EU Horizontal Working Party on Enhancing Resilience and Countering Hybrid Threats and the EU’s Rapid Alert System network.

This work is complemented by the implementation of the EU Digital Services Act, the powers for which came fully into operation in February 2024, the 2022 Code of Practice on Disinformation and the European Digital Media Observatories, one which is located in Dublin City University.

Ireland and the EU are committed to strengthen engagement and to tackle this threat at all levels, including in multilateral formats and within the United Nations.