Dear readers,

Enforcement is increasingly at the centre of the response to disinformation, with recent developments showing how regulatory frameworks are being actively tested in practice. From civil society pushing for investigations to platforms challenging court rulings, these cases reflect both growing momentum and the remaining gap between ambition and real-world application.

At the same time, efforts to strengthen deterrence and platform accountability are gaining traction, even if progress remains uneven. Investigations, legal action, and growing scrutiny are increasingly exposing systemic weaknesses, while also pointing to the need for more consistent and effective safeguards.

AI is accelerating these dynamics, while coordinated networks and strategic narratives continue to shape public perception across political, geopolitical, and climate debates. Together, these trends underline a shift from isolated incidents to a more systemic challenge, reinforcing the importance of structural approaches to protect the information ecosystem.

You might notice things look a little different in this edition of the newsletter. We’ve shifted towards a more concise format, designed to give you a clearer, quicker read on the developments that matter most. Dive in below to explore the details, and feel free to share your thoughts – you can simply hit reply and let us know what you think.

National responses & regulatory expansion

Governments are stepping up efforts to address online harms and foreign interference, expanding legal frameworks and enforcement powers at the national level. Recent measures point to a more interventionist approach, particularly around election integrity, platform liability, and the protection of vulnerable users. This includes moves towards stronger deterrence, with proposals such as criminal liability for tech executives who fail to remove harmful content like non-consensual intimate images. At the same time, responses vary across jurisdictions, reflecting differences in scope, ambition, and enforcement approaches, even as countries such as Turkey join others like Australia and several European states in introducing age-based restrictions on social media.

Enforcement & the DSA gap

The Digital Services Act is increasingly being tested, with recent cases revealing tensions between regulatory ambition and how enforcement unfolds in practice. Rather than relying solely on centralised DSA mechanisms, enforcement is often shaped by a combination of regulatory processes, external pressure, and legal challenges, from civil society pushing for investigations to legal action against platforms and court rulings being contested. These developments highlight differences between the framework’s design and its implementation, with outcomes shaped by interpretation, access, and institutional processes.

Platform accountability & monetisation risks

Platform systems continue to enable and amplify harm through their design, curation, and monetisation models. Recent cases show how commercial incentives can shape what content is displayed, prioritised, or monetised – from advertisements appearing when users search for support on sensitive issues, to inadequate content curation, and disputes over how advertising revenues are distributed and how media ratings affect the visibility and presentation of information online. These developments highlight how business models interact with accountability mechanisms, affecting both the visibility of information and the effectiveness of existing safeguards.

AI, credibility and information integrity

AI is emerging as a structural risk to the information ecosystem, not only spreading disinformation but accelerating its scale, distorting credibility, and introducing new forms of harm. Recent developments show a shift from isolated misuse to systemic impact: from “slopaganda” flooding platforms with high-volume, low-quality content, to AI systems reproducing and legitimising unreliable medical claims. At the same time, AI-generated summaries are introducing errors at scale, while platform systems continue to promote “nudify” apps. Synthetic media is also being used in targeted political campaigns to produce highly shareable, entertainment-driven content, such as as AI-generated “Lego-style” videos.

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

Information influence & strategic narratives

Disinformation continues to evolve through coordinated networks, state actions, and media dynamics, shaping how narratives are produced, amplified, and contested. Recent cases show how actors exploit platform features, digital infrastructures, and societal vulnerabilities to influence public perception, from political campaigns and geopolitical conflicts to climate and energy debates. Together, these developments highlight the growing sophistication and strategic use of disinformation across the information ecosystem.

Brussels corner

Joint committee work on the AgoraEU funding package gets underway. Work is continuing apace on the European Parliament’s position on the AgoraEU funding package, which includes the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) programme – a crucial tool in the fight against disinformation. Unusually, the file is jointly led by two committees, the Culture (CULT) and Civil Liberties (LIBE) committees, with public deliberations starting in June following significant behind-the-scenes progress, supported by opinions from other committees.

Digital Services Act: developments in enforcement. The European Commission has launched infringement proceedings against Member States for failing to meet their obligations under the Digital Services Act (DSA), particularly on appointing Digital Services Coordinators (DSCs). Yet the Commission itself has fallen short in enforcing key provisions for very large online platforms, with civil society stepping in to take successful court action. This raises questions about whether Member States should also consider legal solutions when the Commission does not fulfil its own obligations.

Explore the full Brussels Corner on our website.

🧡 One thing we loved

We loved this post from the Global Disinformation Index for stating something simple but essential: tools to detect disinformation already exist, but access to platform data is still restricted. The problem is not technical, it’s structural and regulatory. 

Not a new point, but one worth repeating over and over.

📚 Recommended pick

This week’s recommended read by our Project Manager Inès Gentil is the latest report from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre: Fractured Reality: How Democracy Can Win the Global Struggle Over the Information Space.

The report explores how engagement-driven platform business models can undermine democratic debate by prioritising attention over truth, fuelling polarisation, weakening shared reality, and enabling what the authors describe as a “fantasy-industrial complex” of political, commercial and digital actors spreading distortion and manipulation. It also highlights how algorithms tend to reward emotional and divisive content, creating echo chambers and increasingly separate “echo platforms.” Generative AI amplifies these risks further by producing persuasive content at scale while creating dangerous illusions of knowledge and authority.

The report stresses that neither individual-level interventions nor content moderation alone are sufficient – systemic reform of platform business models is essential. It calls specifically for a progressive tax on digital advertising, stronger competition through interoperability requirements, meaningful restoration of user autonomy, and sustained investment in European digital infrastructure that is not dependent on foreign corporate control. 

👀 Spotted

Our Project Manager Inès Gentil spoke at an EDMO BELUX workshop in Luxembourg, sharing insights on disinformation-related vulnerabilities and platform accountability. The event brought together experts across sectors to exchange knowledge and strengthen collective approaches to tackling disinformation.

Our Senior Researcher Raquel Miguel Serrano joined the Third International Conference on FIMI in Buenos Aires, Argentina, contributing to global discussions on foreign interference and disinformation. 

🤝 Community meetups

EU DisinfoLab organises regular meetups across Europe to connect researchers, practitioners, and policymakers, offering a friendly space to exchange ideas and stay connected across the field.

On 19 May, we will gather again in Brussels for a pre-show meetup ahead of a performance of Antony and Cleopatra by Brussels Shakespeare Society. Those interested can also attend the play, which explores themes of disinformation, power, and emerging technologies – offering a fitting extension to the evening’s discussions (advance booking is required for the play). 

Interested in joining this meetup, or one in another city? Simply reply to this email to let us know.

💬 EU DisinfoLab webinars

Join our upcoming sessions exploring disinformation trends and how evidence drives enforcement and accountability:

Missed a session? Watch our past webinars.

🗓️ Events on our radar

  • 12 May. Disinfo Talks | Webinar #2: On the Frontlines: Debunking Disinformation in Geopolitics and Climate Science with AI Solutions. AI4Debunk (In-person & online)
  • 19–23 May. Antony and Cleopatra. Brussels Shakespeare Society (Brussels, in-person)
  • 1–2 June. Net4Society Matchmaking Event for 2026 Horizon Europe Cluster 2 calls (Paris, in-person)
  • 15–18 June. Disinformation Summer Institute 2026 (California, in-person)
  • 17–19 June. GlobalFact 2026. International Fact-Checking Network (Vilnius, in-person)
  • 18–20 June. Fake News Festival 2026 (Frankfurt, in-person)
  • 7–8 September. Countering Disinformation, Raising Democratic Resilience. EDMO BELUX 2.0 (Brussels, in-person)
  • 6–8 October. #Disinfo2026. EU DisinfoLab (Vilnius, in-person)

🤝 Jobs & opportunities

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