this post was submitted on 04 Apr 2025
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Europe

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If you are concerned about people being influenced by Russia, the US, and China, be it via Facebook, Reddit, TikTok, local ads, or whatever else, if you are concerned about that friend who suddenly started spouting anti-EU rhetoric from Youtube, if you're unhappy with how the EU and member states have handled it so far, this is for you.

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all 27 comments
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[–] comrade_twisty@feddit.org 10 points 14 hours ago (3 children)
[–] jimmy90@lemmy.world 1 points 43 minutes ago

enforce the disinformation fines first and force corrections with the same impact on the same publishing media

[–] atro_city@fedia.io 2 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

If you're a European, do fill in the questionnaire and make that comment! The more the merrier.

[–] comrade_twisty@feddit.org 1 points 55 minutes ago

I’m European first but Swiss second, so not an EU citizen unfortunately.

[–] Sunshine@lemmy.ca 8 points 14 hours ago

Fund Mastodon, Loops and Friendica.

[–] Comtief@lemm.ee 2 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago) (1 children)

10 mins? damn you guys are fast. it took me that time just to realize there is a document. edit: btw is that the actual feedback form? https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/EuropeanDemocracyShieldConsultation

[–] atro_city@fedia.io 1 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

"Give feedback" takes you to the form and "Go to consultation" takes you to a page about the questionnaire and more information, then you can click on "Respond to questionnaire". Both paths get you there.

The questionnaire says the same as the PDF document.

[–] Comtief@lemm.ee 1 points 8 hours ago

Yeah I figured it out eventually. My dumb ass thought initialIy that i need to write into that comment box on the initial page.

[–] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 7 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

The investment in a social democracy/ social safety it ultimately what is safeguarding Europe, because it precludes the motivations/ grievances which create surface area for misinformation to operate on. Its not that it isn't possible, it just has a much more difficult time taking hold.

The UK is a great example of this, where they seem religiously committed to austerity as the approach for addressing most issues; this gave rise to grievance politics because, well, austerity does hurt people; grievance politics gives misinformation something to operate on (its the continents fault); brexxit happens; life gets worse; misinformation gains an even further foothold because now its premise has been validated, and there is even more grievance to operate on.

Grievance is the scar tissue which misinformation operates upon. Misinformation is the bacteria which spread and cause death, but without the wound of grievance, there is nothing to do. Creates strong mechanisms for grievances to be addressed (engaged democratic processes; responsive governance).

[–] atro_city@fedia.io 1 points 9 hours ago

The investment in a social democracy/ social safety it ultimately what is safeguarding Europe

For now. Right-wing parties are gaining ground and it's helped a lot by US media that's being abused by Russia. A lot more has to be done.

[–] Sunshine@lemmy.ca 8 points 15 hours ago (3 children)

Europe is definitely more resilient in protecting democracy as they have countries using proportional representation.

[–] breakingcups@lemmy.world 19 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Yes, but we're not immune. Populism is heavily represented in almost every country.

[–] Snoopy@piefed.social 5 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago) (1 children)

Well sadly not France. Boloré hold medias and is converting people to far right. The fifth republic in france has problem and lack democracy... :(

[–] Sunshine@lemmy.ca -1 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

France uses the second-round system.

[–] atro_city@fedia.io 2 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

For presidential elections, yes. For other elections it is proportional. They should use ranked choice for presidential elections but that's not going to happen in the 5th republic. It'll need another revolution or constitutional change to fix their system.

[–] Sunshine@lemmy.ca 0 points 8 hours ago

They should definitely use the single transferable vote for presidential elections.

[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 0 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

That's certainly nice, but it's mostly irrelevant in the long run without a more serious remedy to the issues the far right uses to gain legitimacy.

[–] Sunshine@lemmy.ca 3 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

I beg to differ. Countries that use pr have much higher voter turnout and perform better on every issue thus reducing the chances of the people feeling frustrated and voting in fascists in hope of change.

[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io -3 points 14 hours ago (2 children)

That's definitely true, but then again AfD got the highest number of seats in Germany's last election for example. PR is nice but not much more than a bandaid if your politicians are crooks, which let's face it they are.

[–] rumschlumpel@feddit.org 4 points 13 hours ago (1 children)
[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 2 points 12 hours ago

Oh yeah you're right.

[–] Sunshine@lemmy.ca 3 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago) (1 children)

People in Germany need to vote for better parties and the centre and left parties need to make better decisions when in power, however that is not the fault of pr. It is one of many important reforms democracies need to make. One reason why the AfD has gotten so far is because of the Germans’ reliance on Twitter with Elon Musk manipulating the platform to give AfD artificial public support in the election thus reinforcing the band wagon effect.

At least in Germany you can see how much popular support the AfD have instead of them lurking behind the 2 big parties and that’s great transparency to have in democracy. Also the people have more viable choices on the ballot instead of just having 2 choices.

[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 2 points 13 hours ago

People in Germany need to vote for better parties and the centre and left parties need to make better decisions when in power, however that is not the fault of pr

I'm not saying it's the fault of PR, but rather that a good voting system alone will not stop fascism. As you said non-right parties need to make better decisions when in power, but also the people themselves need to be more civically engaged outside of elections.

[–] vane@lemmy.world 3 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

How are they sure russian bots are not responding to those questions ?

[–] atro_city@fedia.io 3 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Because they need to create an account tied to an EU identity?

[–] vane@lemmy.world 3 points 3 hours ago

I just registered with random email and password and can fill the survey. So how it's tied to EU identity ?