The European Union on Tuesday said Russia and China were using “massive digital arsenals” to interfere in Western democracies, while their messaging around the war in Ukraine had become increasingly aligned.
“Foreign information manipulation and interference is a major security threat to the EU,” foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in a report.
“We must not underestimate the power that this has over us, or the intentions of those behind it.”
In its latest annual report on the subject Brussels said that last year it tracked disinformation attacks against over 80 countries and more than 200 organisations.
The war in Ukraine remains a major target for Russia — but events such as the Olympics in Paris, elections in Moldova and farmers’ protests in Germany were also in the crosshairs.
“The aim is to destabilise our societies, damage our democracies, drive wedges between us and our partners and undermine the EU’s global standing,” Kallas said.
The report said Brussels has become better at joining up the dots to expose the campaigns by Moscow and Beijing to shape opinion in the EU.
It said Russia uses a complex web of “of state and non-state actors” from social media influencers to state media and official spokespeople to create and amplify its messages.
China for its part appears to be stepping up the use of “both private PR companies and influencers to create, amplify and launder content aligned with China’s political interests worldwide”.
The report stopped short of accusing Russia and China of actively colluding to spread disinformation, saying the “cross-pollination between the two seems to remain largely opportunistic”.
But it said that in the month that marked 1,000 days since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, “a significant alignment in Sino-Russian narratives emerged, with hostile messaging blaming NATO for the conflict escalation”.
The EU has become increasingly concerned about Russian interference as part of what it sees as a broader hybrid campaign from Moscow that includes sabotage attacks to weaken the West.
Brussels imposed its first sanctions on Russian intelligence operatives in December over the alleged malign activities.
