A user opens the TikTok app in Durrës, Albania, on February 5, 2026. Alongside ChatGPT, Wikipedia, and X, TikTok is one of the main vectors for disinformation campaigns targeting democracies. ADNAN BECI / AFP
ChatGPT poisoned with Russian propaganda sites in the Baltic states; election interference through the TikTok algorithms in Romania; rumors on X accusing the United Kingdom and France of supplying nuclear-tipped missiles to Ukraine: with 2027 – a year that will see both the French presidential election and the Italian parliamentary elections – fast approaching, Europe is searching for ways to counter Russia’s recent and repeated attempts to pollute the information space.
On February 24, the European Commission inaugurated the European Center for Democratic Resilience, aimed at coordinating the response of EU member states in the face of rising disinformation. “This will strengthen our resilience, ensure that European public debate remains open and fair, and empower citizens to participate in democratic life,” said the Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen. The initiative is part of the “European Democratic Shield,” an initiative launched in June 2024 to promote healthy democracies across the EU.
The inauguration came just a couple of weeks after France’s General Secretariat for Defense and National Security (SGDSN) presented its “national strategy to combat information manipulation.” Like Brussels, Paris is operating on the principle that “the first line of defense against information manipulation is society itself,” as the SGDSN states on its website. This broad-brush approach is designed to complement the Digital Services Act (DSA), implemented in August 2023, which has led to investigations against X and TikTok over suspected foreign interference and disinformation campaigns. The idea is to confront information attacks both at the source and downstream by targeting them directly.
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