Brussels has accused China of leading a disinformation campaign within the European Union, which has unveiled a plan to combat a "huge wave" of false facts about the coronavirus pandemic.
The European Commission said that Russia and China are running "targeted influence operations and disinformation campaigns in the EU, its neighborhood and globally". The EU has repeatedly made such accusations against Russia, but its executive body has for the first time publicly named China as a source of disinformation.
French politicians reacted violently when it was announced on the website of the Chinese embassy in mid-April, at the height of the pandemic in Europe, that caregivers in nursing homes had left their jobs and left residents to die. An unnamed Chinese diplomat also falsely claimed that 80 French MPs used racist slurs against the head of the World Health Organization.
"I believe that, if we have evidence, we should not shy away from publicly naming the culprit," EC Vice President Vera Jurova told reporters.
"We are also witnessing an increase in the number of stories that undermine our democracies and actually our response to the crisis, such as the claim that there are secret American laboratories in former Soviet states, which was spread by pro-Russian media and Chinese officials and state media."
Jurova said that disinformation not only harms the health of democracies, but also the health of citizens. She added that the next front of disinformation is vaccination, citing a study showing that Germans' willingness to get vaccinated has dropped by 20 percentage points in two months.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that "in today's technology-driven and competitive world, warriors use keyboards instead of swords."
In the fight against foreign actors, the EC will strengthen communication strategy and diplomacy, and provide greater support to free and independent media, fact-checkers and researchers, Borel and Jurova announced.
"I strongly believe that a geopolitically strong EU can materialize only if we act decisively," said Jurova, alluding to the aim of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for that body to gain greater influence on the world stage.
The Chinese Mission to the EU said:
"China has always opposed the fabrication and dissemination of disinformation by any individual or organization. China is the victim of disinformation, not the initiator". the community should jointly reject misinformation and cooperate in order to protect public health.
The EC changed its tone from the March report, in which it only described Chinese media coverage, while emphasizing misinformation from Kremlin-backed sources. The change came after MEPs accused the Commission of toning down an earlier disinformation report under pressure from China. EU officials categorically reject the accusations.
EU members are struggling with what position to take towards China on several fronts, from foreign policy and security to the economy. The commission described China as a "systemic rival" in a 2019 report, which many member states described as a turning point in their relationship with the government in Beijing.
The commission said online platforms should submit monthly reports detailing actions to promote authoritative content and limit misinformation about the coronavirus and related advertising.
Social media owners are being encouraged to sign a voluntary code of practice on disinformation, with the threat of regulation if it is breached. In the latest report, the requirements for platforms to be more transparent in sharing data with researchers and to intensify cooperation with independent fact-checking bodies are reinforced.
"I wouldn't want the platforms themselves to be the arbiters of the truth," Jurova said.
Chinese video-sharing app TikTok is the latest company to sign the code of practice, the EC said. So far Facebook, Google, Twitter and Mozilla have done it.
A veiled rebuke to Trump
The EC also implicitly rebuked Donald Trump, drawing attention to the harmful effects of his bizarre suggestions about injecting bleach to treat the coronavirus. Without naming the US president, the commission's document said such false claims can be "very damaging" and that Belgium's poison control center had recorded a 15 percent increase in incidents involving bleach.
Jurova again praised Twitter for placing warnings with two recent Trump posts, saying she wished the social network would take a similar stance on other information.
"Whether it's the president, or diplomats, or me... when we (politicians) say something, we have to be responsible and able to bear it so that someone checks the facts".
Bonus video:
