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PhD defence

Countering Misinformation in the EU: Origins, Evolution, and Prospects

  • S.L. Vériter
Date
Tuesday 3 June 2025
Time
Address
Academy Building
Rapenburg 73
2311 GJ Leiden

Supervisor(s)

  • Prof.dr. J.A. Koops

Summary

This dissertation explores the European Union’s response to the growing problem of misinformation. It uses this case to critically analyse how societies interpret and govern information challenges such as “fake news” and propaganda.

It shows why such issues are understood as security threats, discusses the consequences of that framing, and consider alternative approaches better suited to the global and complex nature of information systems.

The thesis builds on 50 interviews with key stakeholders and over 400 documents to fully retrace the development of EU misinformation policies since 2015. It focuses on three key moments: (1) Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the resulting creation of the East StratCom Task Force, (2) the COVID-19 pandemic and the strengthening of EU crisis response mechanisms, and (3) Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which prompted the EU to ban Russian state-backed media RT and Sputnik. These milestones are unpacked to explain how responses were shaped, who influenced them, and what difficulties arose during their implementation.

Finally, drawing on the lessons from the EU case, the dissertation shares best practices and new theoretical perspectives on “information disorders” and the governance of our information space. It suggests using complexity science as a guiding framework to formulate responses that tackle dangerous and malicious acts while respecting the freedoms of liberal democracies.

PhD dissertations

Approximately one week after the defence, PhD dissertations by Leiden PhD students are available digitally through the Leiden Repository, that offers free access to these PhD dissertations. Please note that in some cases a dissertation may be under embargo temporarily and access to its full-text version will only be granted later.

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