EU Lawmakers Clash Over Democracy and Disinformation Regulation
A new study reveals deep disagreements among European Parliament members about what disinformation actually is and how to regulate it—exposing fundamental divisions over democratic values that shape tech policy. The findings suggest Europe's digital governance approach is far more fractured than policymakers and regulators typically acknowledge.
Originaltitel: Competing Visions of Democracy in EU Disinformation Governance: Framing the Digital Services Act in the European Parliament
<p>Disinformation has become a contentious issue within the European Union (EU) and in transatlanticrelations, raising fundamental questions about how democratic societies should regulate online con-tent. This article investigates how competing democratic visions shape European Parliamentary de-bates on the Digital Services Act (DSA). Through a framing analysis of plenary debates, it identifiesfour visions articulated by Members of the European Parliament: Deliberative, Classical Liberal,Pluralist and Populist. Each constructs a distinct threat profile of ‘disinformation’ and advances acorresponding regulatory stance – from support for content moderation to outright rejection of theDSA. Whilst previous research suggests a broad European consensus on disinformation as a demo-cratic threat, this study reveals deep normative divides over its meaning and governance. These find-ings complicate claims of a simple EU–US divide in digital governance by showing that normativecleavages cut across political systems. By linking parliamentary framings to democratic theory, thearticle offers a framework for understanding how divergent democratic ideals shape EU regulation.</p>