EU lawmakers step up efforts to combat AI and online disinformation

BRUSSELS: As the European parliamentary election kicked off on Thursday (Jun 6), lawmakers in Europe are getting to grips with artificial intelligence and its ability to undermine electoral integrity.

They are also worried about the proliferation of online disinformation that could have affected the about 373 million voters across its 27-member bloc during the weeks of campaigning leading up to the polls.

Senior European Union officials said information manipulation and the spreading of deceptive content online poses a serious security threat, and are calling for the protection of the election process.

They fear that over time, misinformation may erode trust in political institutions and breed apathy among voters.

“Free, fair and democratic processes are at the heart of our democracies, so it’s very important that we are monitoring potential foreign interference,” said Thomas Regnier, European Commission spokesperson for digital research and innovation. 

FIGHT AGAINST DISINFORMATION

An EU task force is working with academics, journalists and technology firms to fight foreign information interference and manipulation.

A key tool in their arsenal is the EUvsDisinfo – European Union versus Disinformation – website.

The platform collects and counters what it calls examples of disinformation campaigns from Russia, regarded by the bloc as the major culprit. Moscow denies the charge.

Since 2015, the database has compiled over 17,000 cases, with EU officials expecting pro-Kremlin activities to intensify whenever elections come around.

The EU’s statistics office EUROSTAT is also offering data and fact-checking services for the first time this election season as part of a wider effort to fight misinformation.

Officials cite potential threat posed by AI as another major concern.

On their part, most EU political parties have signed a voluntary code of conduct, pledging not to produce or spread unlabelled deepfakes and other AI-generated content.

Under the new Digital Services Act, the EU is also working with the biggest players in social media to monitor potential threats and ensure clear labels on political campaigns and AI deepfakes.

“We come together with very large online platforms and discuss with them. We go through risk scenarios, we check what they do to protect elections on their social media platforms. The dialogue is constant and I think we’re improving,” said EC spokesperson Regnier.

EU’S ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ACT

The EU will soon have another legal tool to ensure online accountability.

The AI Act, signed in March, is a far-reaching law aimed at boosting innovation whilst providing protections from some of the dangers presented by this rapidly evolving technology. 

“We have worked together to have regulation that respects human rights in the digital age and guarantees the ethics and the values that we defend,” said Carme Artigas, Spain’s secretary of state for digitisation and AI.

The law was not passed in time to be implemented for the current polls. But in future, manipulated election content will have to be watermarked so voters will know if what they are seeing is authentic. 

“Anyone developing or deploying artificial intelligence in a political context, in a political setting, would need to go through the requirements under the AI Act,” said Dragoș Tudorache, a member of the European parliament from the pro-EU Renew Europe Group.

“The act basically means transparency, explainability, and ultimately trust and confidence,” he added.

As lawmakers in Europe adapt to the challenges posed by AI, they are also calling on the public to be vigilant and join the fight against information manipulation.

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