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European Action against Disinformation: Balancing Freedom of Expression with National Security
Licencinė sutartis Nr. MRU-EDT-144
The dissemination of false information represents today a major challenge, not because of the novelty of the phenomenon, but because of the novelty of its reach and consequences on the State security and integrity. This research aims at analysing the best ways to fight the phenomenon of spreading false information, by understanding what it is and analysing if there a systematically uniform attitude of the different Member States of the European Union to counter it and if not, whether the European Union can step in. For this purpose, a first part established the characteristics of the phenomenon of disseminating false information and determine the best terminology to reflect properly the phenomenon. The second part elaborates on the possibility of a State to use the principle of State integrity to block foreign content (online or broadcast) while respecting the freedom of expression and the relevant case law of the European Court of Human Rights. Three different legislations – French, German and Lithuanian – are compared in order to determine if they have a uniform and efficient approach and to examine their compliance with the ECHR. Finally, the third part analyse the possibility and opportunity of a European Union approach, by assessing the existing legal framework. The main finding is that the European Union should establish a common framework regarding the definition and responsibility of the platform providers in order to tackle efficiently the dissemination of intended false information, as the national approaches are insufficient and may impair the digital single market.