Wave of Russian fakes may strengthen EU Digital Services Act

Europe's battle against Kremlin disinformation, fueled by artificial intelligence, seems to be reaching a new level, due to a doubling of Russian bot attacks on email, media, and communities. The question is whether Brussels can adapt as quickly as neural networks.

This is stated in the material by Chris Kremidas-Courtney, a researcher at the European Policy Centre, reported by Euractiv and UNN.

Details

Kremlin-linked AI networks are flooding European fact-checking services with deepfakes, fake articles, and bot-driven hoaxes. All of this is testing Europe's Digital Services Act. Currently, the rules only require real-time platform accountability; cross-border threat sharing is also in place. But the next wave of Russian-sponsored fakes could change public discourse in the EU. The key question is whether Brussels and the platforms it seeks to regulate can keep pace with the innovations used by the disinformation campaign.

Reference

Since June 2024, the Kremlin-led "Overload" operation has become the longest-running disinformation blitz campaign against the fact-checking community in Europe.

AI-driven variants of the "Overload" operation's narratives are appearing faster than fact-checkers can debunk them. This is evidenced by a report from CheckFirst and Reset Tech. For now, Europe's information space is in an endless game of "whack-a-mole" against disinformation.

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Since September 2024, the Russian-backed operation (also known as "Matryoshka") has more than doubled its email attacks, overwhelming media and communities. This means fact-checking is burdened, with an average of 2.6 fabricated proposals per day.

But the problem is elsewhere:

fake emails are just the tip of the iceberg for this coordinated propaganda machine. This machine includes some 11,000 crypto-themed "reposter" bots on Twitter/X and thousands of fake videos.

Anti-Ukrainian narratives and various types of discreditation

In France, Poland, and Moldova, Overload identified four pillars:

• anti-Ukrainian aggression;
• election intimidation;
• personal discreditation;
• a type of panic, calls for violence

Targeted campaigns require equally adapted counter-messages, as universal rebuttals leave gaps for the next hostile narrative

Under the EU's Digital Services Act, very large online platforms (VLOPs) must quickly reduce systemic risks, such as election interference and incitement to violence.

But so far, platforms have allowed reactivated accounts and abuse of paid authentication to slip through.

If the EU allows this to continue, avoiding state audits, fines, or mandatory transparency, the DSA (cryptographic algorithm using a public key to create an electronic signature - ed.) risks becoming nothing more than a show, unfit to protect against state-sponsored disinformation, - emphasizes the author of the article.

Addition - 4 points of protection

Europe cannot treat every Overload attack as an oddity. Instead, it must combat AI disinformation with four coordinated efforts

1. Real-time threat intelligence sharing across platforms.
2. Scalable investment in AI detection.
3. Give the DSA "teeth."
4. Narrative literacy campaigns.

Regarding the first point, the recommendation is as follows:

Create a shared dashboard with encrypted channels so that as soon as one fact-checking group or platform spots a new fake image, bot network, or manipulated video, it automatically alerts all others.

Second - investment in artificial intelligence:

Invest in AI systems that can automatically scan millions of videos, images, and posts every hour, flagging deepfakes and mass-generated disinformation so that platforms and fact-checkers can remove them before they go viral.

Strengthening the DSA:

Publicly name and sanction non-compliant VLOPs, require rapid removal under Articles 34–35, and demand quarterly transparency reports on coordinated inauthentic behavior.

Narrative literacy campaigns - information campaigns need to be launched that go beyond debunking individual lies.

That is, to teach people to recognize when a deceptive story is built around a "kernel of truth" or artificially fabricated.

So that everyone can challenge fakes and report them, not just fact-checkers."

Recall

The European Parliament recognized that Russia systematically uses disinformation, carries out cyberattacks, manipulates public opinion, and interferes in politics, including elections, in EU countries, the US, and other states.