Dear Readers,

Accountability requires both a strong civil society and strong institutions working in the same direction. By refusing public access to X’s first annual risk assessment report under the Digital Services Act, the European Commission committed maladministration. This is the final conclusion of the European Ombudsman, an independent EU body tasked with investigating maladministration by EU institutions, following a complaint lodged in 2024 by Alexander Fanta, a journalist at Follow The Money — who had first requested access to the report back in September 2023.

This finding is part of a broader pattern of questions being raised about the European Commission’s transparency on digital regulation enforcement. In Brussels, civil society organisations expressed concerns over alleged interference from President von der Leyen regarding a fine against Google on the DMA.

As investigations pile up — on digital regulation and alleged criminal activities alike — maintaining pressure on enforcement bodies, particularly at European level, becomes essential. We will explore this on 4 June in our webinar “Enforce the Enforcers”, where Christine Allan de Lavenne, a lawyer at Side Law, will examine what legal options EU Member States have when the Commission falls short of its supervisory and enforcement obligations. [Register here!]

It can sometimes feel uncomfortable to hold EU institutions accountable at a time of increased geopolitical tensions. But such actions do not undermine the regulation. On the contrary, they’re actually crucial to demonstrate that the enforcement should uphold democratic standards, and leave no space for behind-closed-doors arrangements.

These challenges are also increasingly visible beyond the EU. This past week, we were particularly struck by the cancellation of RightsCon 2026 in Zambia, reportedly following pressure linked to objections over Taiwanese participation. For many across civil society, journalism, academia, and the digital rights community, the cancellation represents more than the loss of a conference. It reflects growing concerns around transnational pressure, shrinking civic space, and the increasing vulnerability of international forums dedicated to accountability, transparency, and digital rights cooperation. 

Closer to home, we believe it is important not to lose sight of the growing challenges surrounding generative AI governance in Europe. While EU officials are pushing for greater access to Anthropic’s powerful “Mythos” model amid mounting cybersecurity concerns, Europe’s flagship home-grown AI chatbot, Mistral’s Le Chat, is itself facing scrutiny over vulnerabilities to state-sponsored disinformation narratives.

There is much more to explore in this edition, and we thank our community for continuing to engage, collaborate, and reflect together on these evolving challenges.

Member States Responses

Member states continue to strengthen their responses to online platform harms and disinformation through regulatory action and public awareness initiatives.

In France, judicial authorities have reportedly opened an investigation involving Elon Musk and X amid broader concerns around platform governance and regulatory compliance. At the same time, the French government has launched “Bercy décode” (Bercy aka the French Ministry of Economy), a new initiative aimed at countering misleading narratives and improving public understanding of economic and public policy issues online. In Ireland, regulators are also expanding oversight under the Digital Services Act through a new investigation into Meta’s alleged use of dark patterns. In Poland, discussions over the delayed implementation of the DSA have highlighted tensions around regulatory governance and institutional independence. As highlighted in previous editions, national responses to disinformation and platform governance continue to vary across jurisdictions, reflecting different political priorities, regulatory traditions, and approaches to enforcement and public resilience.

DSA Enforcement, Governance & Platform Accountability

Europe is stepping up its oversight of large online platforms under the Digital Services Act (DSA), as regulators intensify scrutiny of platform design, transparency obligations, and child safety protections.

The European Commission has preliminarily found Meta in breach of its child protection obligations under the DSA, marking a significant moment in EU enforcement of platform safety standards for minors. At the same time, EU officials have pushed back against overly simplistic approaches to restricting young people’s access to social media, signalling that effective child protection requires nuanced policy rather than blanket bans: a reminder that regulatory responses to online harms must balance protection with proportionality.

A decision by the European Ombudswoman criticising the Commission’s handling of a public access request concerning X’s DSA risk assessment report has added further scrutiny to questions of transparency and accountability in the EU’s platform enforcement regime.

Civil Society, Media & Democratic Resilience

Civil society organisations and independent media continue to position themselves as key actors in strengthening democratic resilience against disinformation, political pressure and foreign interference. 

In the United States, the media watchdog organisation Media Matters has announced what it described as a “complete and total victory” against the US Federal Trade Commission after the agency agreed to withdraw its appeal and abandon future investigative demands targeting the organisation. In Europe, debates around media freedom and foreign interference are reinforcing calls to support independent journalism, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe, where financially vulnerable public interest newsrooms are increasingly recognised as a key line of defence against information manipulation and democratic erosion.

AI Disinfo Watch

AI disinformation and safety risks are under fresh scrutiny as new cases show how generative tools can amplify harms across very different contexts. 

The emerging picture points to growing governance and accountability challenges: In Brussels, pressure is mounting on Anthropic over limited EU access to its powerful “Mythos” model, while Europe’s leading home-grown AI model, Mistral’s Le Chat, has proven vulnerable to foreign state-sponsored disinformation linked to Russian, Iranian, and Chinese networks. New economic research also warns that AI-driven platform incentives are accelerating the spread of disinformation and degrading the broader information environment.

Meanwhile in the United States, OpenAI is facing growing scrutiny after investigations revealed that the alleged perpetrator of the 2025 Florida State University shooting, as well as a suspect in a separate 2026 mass shooting case in British Columbia, had used ChatGPT to seek advice related to weapons and attack planning.

Recent academic research also shows how generative AI is accelerating coordinated online gambling promotion, enabling manipulative networks to mass-produce increasingly immersive and persuasive synthetic content across social media platforms.

Explore more in our recently updated AI Disinfo Hub, where we gather the latest research, tools, and analysis on AI-driven disinformation.

Foreign Interference & Strategic Influence Operations

Foreign interference is increasingly taking the form of interconnected diplomatic, informational, and covert influence operations that extend well beyond traditional propaganda campaigns. 

The cancellation of RightsCon 2026 in Zambia, reportedly following pressure linked to Chinese objections over Taiwanese participation, has intensified concerns about transnational interference targeting international civil society and digital rights spaces.

Meanwhile, the EU is deepening cooperation with Armenia to strengthen resilience against Russian hybrid threats, while US officials who previously downplayed or criticised concerns around disinformation and platform manipulation are now placing renewed emphasis on foreign influence operations, particularly those linked to Iran. Canadian intelligence officials have also warned that potential sovereignty referendums, including in Alberta, could become targets for foreign interference and disinformation amplification by actors such as Russia.

These efforts come amid growing evidence that influence operations are becoming more adaptive, decentralised, and embedded across digital and societal ecosystems. Recent investigations show how pro-Kremlin actors are repurposing geopolitical crises to reinforce anti-Western narratives, while Russian propaganda networks increasingly incorporate esoteric and spiritual themes, including astrology and tarot-related content, to expand engagement online and build alternative influence communities. Researchers have also linked commercial account-selling services to Spamouflage operations, further illustrating how state-linked influence networks continue to evolve through hybrid and commercially enabled tactics.

Monetisation & Digital Infrastructures 

Digital infrastructures and monetisation systems are increasingly recognised as key drivers of contemporary disinformation and influence ecosystems. 

Recent investigations highlight how programmatic advertising continues to fund harmful and disinformation-prone content online, while outrage-driven engagement models increasingly turn polarisation and manipulation into profitable business strategies. 

Recent investigations also raise concerns that major platforms may be enabling monetisation opportunities for EU-sanctioned actors linked to foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI), highlighting potential gaps in sanctions enforcement and platform oversight.

Additionally, emerging technologies such as cryptocurrencies, AI-generated content, microtargeting, and opaque digital advertising systems are creating new loopholes for political influence and campaign financing, raising concerns about whether existing transparency and oversight frameworks can keep pace with rapidly evolving digital environments and incentive structures.

Brussels corner 

EU budget negotiations may determine future support for digital democracy initiatives. Analysis published by Tech Policy Press argues that upcoming EU budget decisions will test the bloc’s commitment to strengthening democratic resilience, counter-disinformation efforts, and digital governance capacity. The article warns that insufficient long-term funding could weaken institutional responses to information manipulation and foreign interference. 

European Parliament edges closer to its position on the “Democracy Shield”. After the European Commission published its Communication late last year, the European Parliament announced its intention to adopt a Resolution on the topic. Since then, a Special Committee was set up, a draft resolution was proposed, amendments were tabled and, so far, sixteen rounds of compromise negotiations have taken place. At the time of writing, the plan is still for the Special Committee to vote in June, with a final adoption of the Resolution by the Parliament in its plenary sitting in September.

Bulgaria’s parliamentary elections: domestic disinformation, platform gaps, and the limits of the DSA. The European Parliament’s Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield (EUDS) examined disinformation during Bulgaria’s recent parliamentary elections, with experts warning that domestic manipulation networks played a greater role than foreign interference. Speakers highlighted major gaps in platform cooperation and enforcement under the Digital Services Act (DSA), calling for clearer rules on coordinated inauthentic behaviour and better access to platform data for regulators and researchers.

Explore the full Brussels Corner on our website.

🧡 One thing that stayed with us

This past week, we were particularly struck by the cancellation of RightsCon 2026, the world’s largest conference on digital rights and technology organised by Access Now.  

We know the sense of shock, frustration, and sadness surrounding the cancellation is shared across the broader community, from civil society organisations and researchers to regulators, journalists, and tech policy professionals.

Among the many reactions published over the past days, we wanted to highlight reflections shared by Svea Windwehr, Policy manager at Mozilla, who described the cancellation not only as “absolutely gutting” for the community and the organisations that invested scarce resources to attend, but also as “a significant signal” of the growing pressure facing those working to hold governments and technology companies accountable.

Writing in Tech Policy Press, ARTICLE 19’s Michael Caster also argues that this is not just about one event, but part of a broader pattern of authoritarian influence, in which China exports surveillance and control tactics while undermining the international spaces where civil society gathers to defend democratic and digital rights.

Together, these reflections raise broader questions, ones that we at EU DisinfoLab also share, about how the community can continue to collaborate, support one another, and build resilience at a time when spaces for exchange and cooperation are themselves increasingly vulnerable to political pressure and censorship.

📚 Recommended pick

Maria Brito, our Events and Operations Manager, recommends a podcast that offers a deeply human perspective, and the living reality of the lives of trans children beyond the wave of current- and longstanding – disinformation. “How to Be a Girl”, by Marlo Mack, tells the personal story of a single mother raising her transgender daughter. As Mack puts it: “Every mother is scared for their child, but I think I’m scared times 10. I want this podcast to be an invitation to the world to protect her.”

The full series, including a BBC podcast documentary episode, is available here: How to Be a Girl episodes

👀 Spotted

On 6 May, our colleague Inès Gentil, Project Manager at EU DisinfoLab, was invited to be a speaker at Protect.ngo ’26 during Geneva Cyber Week. Inès spoke on a panel exploring how civil society organisations can better detect, document, and respond to hybrid threats that increasingly target the sector, and presented findings from our EDRN (European Democracy Resilience Network) pilot project. 

🧰 This week’s tool

Mycroft is a private-by-default AI assistant for journalism, built on the open-source Goose runtime, that combines research, scraping, fact-checking, monitoring, and editorial workflows into a single system with a searchable local knowledge base.

💬 EU DisinfoLab webinars

Missed a session? Watch our past webinars.

🗓️ Events on our radar

🤝 Jobs & opportunities

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