The European Commission warned of the threat of cyber attacks in the elections to the EU Parliament
By Prempal Singh
EU member states need to combat the threat of cyber attacks and the manipulation of public opinion on the Internet ahead of the elections to the European Parliament, scheduled for May 2019.
Member states of the European Union should take measures against possible cyber attacks during the elections to the European Parliament, which are scheduled for May 2019. This European Commissioner for Security Julian King said in an interview with the media concern on Wednesday, August 1.
It is necessary to prevent actions that will “undermine our democratic systems and use them as weapons against us,” the European Commissioner stressed.
According to King, a more significant threat than cyber attacks is the manipulation of behavior during elections, which is much more difficult to identify. It’s about the actions of hackers for “disrupting the course of the election campaign with the help of false information” or “using fake news that can influence public opinion.”
The European commissioner urged Internet portals, in particular Facebook and YouTube, to a more meaningful fight against disinformation. In his opinion, there should be clear rules preventing bots from impersonating Internet users. In addition, it is required to limit the possibility of spreading political advertising aimed at a certain audience, King believes.
The European Commission considers one of the urgent measures to be the development of a code of conduct by Internet platforms. The transformation of social networks into “weapons against democracy” is unacceptable, the European Commissioner said.
Earlier, defense ministers of Lithuania, Estonia, Croatia, the Netherlands and Romania signed a protocol of intentions to create forces of rapid cybernetic response.