Disinformation in the EU Law: Moral Theories and the Context
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22364/jull.17.17Keywords:
law and security, information warfare, disinformation, legal theoryAbstract
In recent years, there have been scandalous cases of information warfare acts in the Western world committed by hostile foreign governments. The effect of such acts is dramatically amplified by the widespread use of the internet media and ongoing military conflicts. Accordingly, the EU has taken steps in the battle against disinformation. The legal definition of disinformation contains attributes that need further explanation, particularly, lying and deception. Philosophical theories contain valuable insights on the morality of lying and deception, which can be adapted for interpretation of the disinformation concept.
References
Asch, S. E. Effects of group pressure upon the modification and distortion of judgments. In: Groups, leadership and men; research in human relations, Guetzkow, H. (ed.). Carnegie Press, 1951, pp. 177–190.
Asch, S. E. Opinions and social pressure. Scientific American, Vol. 193, No. 5, 1955, pp. 31–35. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican1155-31
Asch, S. E. Studies of independence and conformity: I. A minority of one against a unanimous majority. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 70(9), 1956, pp. 1–70. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/h0093718
Barak, A. Purposive Interpretation in Law. Princeton, 2005. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400841264
Bennett, W. L., Livingston, S. The disinformation age: politics, technology, and disruptive communication in the United States. Cambridge University Press, 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108914628
Carson, T. L. Lying and Deception: Theory and Practice. Oxford, 2010. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199577415.001.0001
Fiedler, K., Schott, M., Kareev, Y., Avrahami, J., Ackerman, R., Goldsmith, M., Mata, A., Ferreira, M. B., Newell, B. R., Pantazi, M. Metacognitive myopia in change detection: A collective approach to overcome a persistent anomaly. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 46(4), 2020, pp. 649–668. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0000751
Fiedler, K., Prager, J., & McCaughey, L. Metacognitive Myopia: A Major Obstacle on the Way to Rationality. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 32(1), 2023, pp. 49–56. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/09637214221126906
Joyce, R. The Myth of Morality. Cambridge University Press, 2001. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511487101
Kant, I. Groundwork of the metaphysics of morals (1785). In: Practical Philosophy. The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Immanuel Kant, Gregor, M. J. (ed.). Cambridge University Press, 1996.
Kant, I. On a supposed right to lie from philanthropy (1797). In: Practical Philosophy. The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Immanuel Kant, Gregor, M. J. (ed.). Cambridge University Press, 1996.
Leber, A., Abrahams, A. A Storm of Tweets: Social Media Manipulation During the Gulf Crisis. Review of Middle East Studies, 53(2), 2019, pp. 241–411. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/rms.2019.69
Machiavelli, N. The Prince. Translation by Parks, T. Penguin Random House UK, 2009.
Mackie, J. L. Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong. Penguin, 1977.
Mill, J. S. Utilitarianism. 1879 edition. The Floating Press, 2009.
Plato. Republic. Translation by Jowett, B. Roman Roads Media, 2013.
Ross, W. D. The Right and the Good. Oxford University Press, 1930.
Sidgwick, H. The Methods of Ethics. Dover, 1966.
Sinnott-Armstrong, W. Moral Skepticisms. Oxford University Press, 2006. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/0195187725.001.0001
Sunstein, C. R. Liars: Falsehoods and Free Speech in an Age of Deception. Oxford Academic, 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197545119.001.0001
Tzu-Chieh, H., Tzu-Wei, H. How China’s Cognitive Warfare Works: A Frontline Perspective of Taiwan’s Anti-Disinformation Wars. Journal of Global Security Studies, 7(4), 2022, pp. 1–18. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jogss/ogac016
Wood, A. W. What Is Kantian Ethics? In: Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals, Wood, A. W. (ed.). Yale University Press, 2008, pp. 157–182. DOI: https://doi.org/10.12987/9780300128154-012
Atlantic Council. Undermining Ukraine: How Russia widened its global information war in 2023. Available: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-research-reports/report/undermining-ukraine-how-russia-widened-its-global-information-war-in-2023/ [last viewed 09.06.2024].
Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market and amending Council Directive 84/450/EEC, Directives 97/7/EC, 98/27/EC and 2002/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council. OJ L 149, 11.6.2005. Available: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32005L0029 [last viewed 23.08.2024].
Directive 2006/114/EC of 12 December 2006 concerning misleading and comparative advertising. OJ L 376, 27.12.2006, pp. 21–27. Available: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32006L0114 [last viewed 09.06.2024.].
Bursztyn, L., Rao, A., Roth, C., Yanagizawa-Drott, D. Misinformation during a Pandemic. Becker Friedman Institute, Working Paper No. 2020-44, 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3386/w27417
Council on Foreign Relations. Countering Russian Information Operations in the Age of Social Media. Available: https://www.cfr.org/report/countering-russian-information-operations-age-social-media [last viewed 09.06.2024].
Council on Foreign Relations. Why the U.S. Ramped Up Its Information War With Russia. Available: https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/why-us-ramped-its-information-war-russia [last viewed 09.06.2024].
CSIS. Going on the Offensive: A U.S. Strategy to Combat Russian Information Warfare. .Available: https://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/181002_Russia_Active_Measures_FINAL1.pdf [last viewed 09.06.2024].
European Commission. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: Tackling online disinformation: a European Approach. EUR-Lex, COM(2018) 236 final, 2018. Available: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52018DC0236 [last viewed 09.06.2024].
European Commission. Joint Communication to the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: Action Plan against Disinformation. EUR-Lex, JOIN(2018) 36 final, 2018. Available: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=JOIN:2018:036:FIN [last viewed 09.06.2024].
European Commission. Strengthened Code of Practice on Disinformation. EUR-Lex, 2022. Available: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/code-practice-disinformation [last viewed 09.06.2024].
Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament of Great Britain. Russia Report. Available: https://isc.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/20200721_HC632_CCS001_CCS1019402408-001_ISC_Russia_Report_Web_Accessible.pdf [last viewed 09.06.2024].
Kubica, L. Eastern Partnership countries in flux: From identity politics to militarization of foreign relations. The European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats, 2023. Available: https://www.hybridcoe.fi/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/20230221-Hybrid-CoE-Trend-Report-9-EaP-WEB.pdf [last viewed 11.03.2024].
Lebrun, M. Anticipating cognitive intrusions: Framing the phenomenon. The European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats, 2023. Available: https://www.hybridcoe.fi/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/20230703-Hybrid-CoE-Strategic-Analysis-33-Cognitive-intrusion-WEB.pdf [last viewed 11.03.2024].
Spiegel Politik. Baerbocks Digitaldetektive decken russische Lügenkampagne auf [Baerbock’s digital detectives uncover Russian campaign of lies]. Available: https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/desinformation-aus-russland-auswaertiges-amt-deckt-pro-russische-kampagne-auf-a-765bb30e-8f76-4606-b7ab-8fb9287a6948 [last viewed 11.03.2024].
The Guardian. Germany unearths pro-Russia disinformation campaign on X. Available: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/26/germany-unearths-pro-russia-disinformation-campaign-on-x [last viewed 11.03.2024].
Vilnius Summit Communiqué (Issued by NATO Heads of State and Government participating in the meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Vilnius 11 July 2023). Available: https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/official_texts_217320.htm [last viewed 09.06.2024].
Washington Post. Russian troll farm, 13 suspects indicted in 2016 election interference. Available: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/russian-troll-farm-13-suspects-indicted-for-interference-in-us-election/2018/02/16/2504de5e-1342-11e8-9570-29c9830535e5_story.html [last viewed 09.06.2024].
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 University of Latvia
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
