The Russia connectionEU probe finds “continued, sustained” online disinformation by “Russian sources”

The European Union says that it has gathered evidence of “continued and sustained” disinformation activity by Russia aimed at influencing the results of May’s elections for the European Parliament.

The European Commission report said “Russian sources” tried to suppress voter turnout and influence voters’ preferences.

It did not elaborate on what it meant by “Russian sources,” and it said it was not yet able to identify a “distinct cross-border disinformation campaign from external sources specifically targeting the European elections.”

The report follows pre-election warnings from Brussels to EU countries and social media companies like Facebook and Twitter to guard against possible “fake news” from Russia.

Malign activities noted in the June 14 report ranged from challenging the EU’s democratic legitimacy to exploiting divisive debates on issues like migration.

It cited the example of the fire at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, which was used by malicious actors “to illustrate the alleged decline of Western and Christian values in the EU.”

The commission said its efforts to combat “fake news” had helped reduce the amount of disinformation appearing online.

Those efforts include signing up Internet companies like Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Mozilla to a voluntary code of conduct.

But the report said more needed to be done.

“The tactics used by internal and external actors, in particular linked to Russian sources, are evolving as quickly as the measures adopted by states and online platforms,” the commission wrote.

This article is reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty