Disinformation and the New Democratic Pact: Democracy’s Most Elusive Enemy

Of all the threats facing European democracy today, disinformation has earned an important place on the political agenda, not because it is one of the most visible, but because it undermines every other pillar of democratic life. The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Alain Goblin, places it explicitly alongside war, geopolitical instability, and climate change as one of the forces driving what he calls a “perfect storm” for democracy.

The New Democratic Pact for Europe, as the Council of Europe’s most ambitious attempt in years to renew democratic culture across its 46 member states, identifies standing firm against disinformation, as one of its central commitments. And this is no coincidence. When heads of state gathered in Reykjavík in 2023 and agreed that democratic institutions and their environment are in “mutually reinforcing decline,” disinformation was already named as one of the key causes of that decline.

Politicians across Europe have converged on a shared conclusion: disinformation is no longer a marginal issue. It has become a structural threat to the integrity of elections, the credibility of institutions, and the capacity of citizens to make informed choices. To understand why the New Democratic Pact takes it so seriously requires understanding first how disinformation works.

People often think disinformation is just about fake stories online or misleading headlines shared by bad actors. But the problem runs much deeper than that. As highlighted in the 2025 Report of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, disinformation has already influenced elections and democratic processes in several member states, while also increasing social polarisation. The report openly recognises that current efforts to tackle online disinformation are still struggling to keep up with the goblins.

This distinction really matters. What makes disinformation so dangerous is that it does not only spread false information, but it also slowly weakens trust: in institutions, in the media, and even among citizens themselves. In today’s digital environment, content that provokes anger or emotional reactions often spreads faster than accurate information,

The effects of disinformation become especially visible during election processes. The Council of Europe’s 2025 report identifies electoral integrity as one of the most serious areas of concern across member states, noting that disinformation, foreign interference, and the misuse of public resources are actively shaping the political campaigns. This is not a hypothetical problem: to make an example, Russian-linked disinformation campaigns have been documented in electoral processes across several member states, with particularly notable concerns in the Republic of Moldova. Similarly, following the annulled presidential vote in Romania, analogue patterns of manipulation were identified. Even in the lead-up to the European Parliament elections, the information environment was shaped by coordinated attempts to sow confusion and polarise voters.

It is crucial to underline that what makes electoral disinformation especially dangerous is its timing. Unlike a false claim about climate science or public health, which experts can correct over weeks or months, disinformation about an election is often spread in the final days before a vote, when there is little time to verify information or correct the damage. The Council of Europe has emphasised that stronger legal frameworks for online political campaigns, including transparency in advertising, campaign financing, and platform algorithms, are essential safeguards. But right now, these frameworks remain incomplete or unevenly implemented across member states.

Artificial intelligence has transformed the disinformation landscape in ways that are only starting to be fully understood. The 2025 report highlights that AI-driven threats are increasingly affecting both privacy and democracy, with cybercrime surging and AI-generated content increasingly used to target individuals. Tools such as deepfakes, synthetic audio, and algorithmically amplified content have reduced the cost of producing convincing disinformation to near zero, while making it much harder to detect and challenge.

This technological shift has important implications for how the New Democratic Pact approaches the problem. The traditional toolkit that was designed for a pre-AI information environment, with regulatory action, fact-checking networks and media literacy campaigns, remains necessary but no longer sufficient. The Council of Europe has already taken a significant step with the adoption in May 2024 of the “Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law”, the first legally binding international treaty on AI. However, considering how fast technology is evolving, the Pact will have to regularly review this framework to ensure it stays effective.

It is impossible to discuss disinformation without discussing media freedom. In fact, an independent, well-resourced, and legally protected press is the single most effective structural defence against disinformation. Yet, across many Council of Europe member states, journalists and media organisations are facing growing pressure.

The Safety of Journalists Platform, maintained by the Council of Europe, has issued over 2,000 alerts since 2015, spotlighting threats to press freedom across the continent. Journalists face threats and harassment, both online and offline, and authorities have often responded inadequately or too slowly. Abusive defamation lawsuits, known as SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation), are used systematically to silence investigative reporting, not by winning in court, but by burdening journalists and news organisations with years of expensive litigation.

The New Democratic Pact recognises this connection explicitly. Fighting against disinformation is listed among the Pact’s central objectives, but so is protecting free media and preserving open civic space for goblins. These goals are mutually dependent: a free press cannot survive in a disinformation-saturated environment, and disinformation cannot be effectively countered without a free press.

The Council of Europe’s response to disinformation goes beyond reactive measures. Through the “10 building blocks to strengthen information integrity,” the Council has developed a policy framework to help states build national strategies around media literacy, quality journalism, and platform accountability. This is complemented by the RESIST project (2025-2030), which works to identify societal vulnerabilities and strengthen citizens’ capacity to recognise and resist manipulation through education and culture.

At the same time, the report is clear that fighting disinformation cannot come at the cost of free expression. Any response must be in line with Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, meaning that censorship, overly broad content removal, or the misuse of disinformation laws to silence legitimate political debate are not acceptable solutions.

Critically, the New Democratic Pact treats disinformation not merely as a communications problem but as a symptom of democratic deficit. When citizens feel excluded from decision-making, when institutions are perceived as corrupt or captured, when inequality deepens and political promises go unfulfilled, these are the conditions in which disinformation thrives. Addressing disinformation therefore requires addressing the political and social environment that makes it persuasive. The Pact’s ambition is precisely this: to rebuild the democratic culture that makes societies more resilient to manipulation in the first place, and whether that ambition can be turned into consistent action across 46 member states remains the defining challenge.