EU Action Plan Against Disinformation: Public Authorities, Platforms and the People

• Author: Dr. Antonios Kouroutakis
• Pages: 277-290

EU Action Plan Against Disinformation: Public

Authorities, Platforms and the People

D

R

. A

NTONIOS

K

OUROUTAKIS

1

I. Introduction

Democracy is a technology of governance. The spread of democracy—

the so called “democratization”—took place progressively and in waves.

According to Huntington, the first wave started in 1820, the second with the

end of World War II, and the third wave in 1974.

2

Remarkably, before the

end of World War II, democracy was close to extinction as only eleven

democracies were recorded around the world.

3

Nowadays, democracy is

threatened, and a democratic backsliding has occurred.

4

The Freedom

House reports that “[i]n 2018, Freedom in the World recorded the 13th

consecutive year of decline in global freedom.”

5

On top of this, a number of

democracies have adopted illiberal reforms, creating a new model of

governance between democracy and authoritarianism: the so called “illiberal

democracy.”

6

Additionally, there is a widespread feeling of distrust among the people.

Interestingly, people express concerns about democracy within even the

most established democracies. For instance, a poll published by The

Washington Post just before the presidential election of 2016 revealed that 40

percent of Americans had “lost faith in democracy.”

7

Furthermore, confidence in democratic institutions has been shaken.

According to a Gallup poll, confidence in the United States Congress is very

1. Dr. Antonios Kouroutakis, Assistant Professor at IE University Law School. The author

would like to thank the participants in the Lawahead event organized in Madrid under the

auspices of IE University in January 2019 entitled “Disinformation as a threat of the upcoming

European Elections.” All errors remain those of the author.

2. See Samuel P. Huntington, Democracy’s Third Wave, 2 J.

OF

D

EMOCRACY

12, 12 (1991).

3. J

OHN

K

EANE

, T

HE

L

IFE AND

D

EATH OF

D

EMOCRACY

, at xxiii (2009).

4. David Waldner & Ellen Lust, Unwelcome Change: Coming to Terms with Democratic

Backsliding, 21 A

NN

. R

EV

.

OF

P

OL

. S

CI

. 93, 93 – 113 (2018).

5. Freedom in the World 2019: Democracy in Retreat, F

REEDOM

H

OUSE

, https://freedomhouse

.org/report/freedom-world/freedom-world-2019/democracy-in-retreat (last visited Feb. 28,

2019).

6. See Fareed Zakaria, The Rise of Illiberal Democracy, 76 F

OREIGN

A

FF

. 22, 24 (1997).

7. See Nathaniel Persily & Jon Cohen, Americans Are Losing Faith in Democracy – and in Each

Other, W

ASH

. P

OST

(Oct. 14, 2016), https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/americans-are-

losing-faith-in-democracy—and-in-each-other/2016/10/14/b35234ea-90c6-11e6-9c52-0b1044

9e33c4_story.html?utm_term=.6508ef0e81d5.

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