Statement Regarding the E&C Joint Subcommittee Hearing on Disinformation

The Central and East European Coalition (CEEC) welcomes and strongly supports the June 24 discussion on online disinformation, announced by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

The CEEC stresses that fighting disinformation and promoting media literacy is crucial in the fast-changing media environment. CEEC members share much experience with dealing with and identifying the distorting effects of Russian disinformation.

In fighting disinformation, coordination and information-sharing is key, because many of the tactics and tools are similar across the world, no matter the geographical borders. That is why the CEEC encourages exchanges of best practices and even stronger cooperation between the United States and NATO, including efforts, for instance, within the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, based in Riga, Latvia.

We encourage strong U.S. cooperation with European allies where we have seen good examples of work in exposing Russian disinformation and false narratives. For instance, the European Union’s External Action Service Task Force, dedicated to exposing Russian disinformation, provides new information and analysis on a regular basis.

In fighting disinformation, accountability of social media platforms is also crucial. Therefore, the CEEC supports a unified response within the U.S. and its transatlantic allies in NATO and Europe, in terms of coordinating the actions towards holding social media companies accountable, from both a legal framework and practical approach. A common Code of Practice against disinformation, currently in place within the European Union, could be one of such examples for cooperation.