On February 16, the French newspaper Le Monde published a long and appalling study on the serious risk of “foreign interferences” in the European elections scheduled on May 26 this year. Governments need to inform parliaments and the public of what is happening and what the implications are. “Paris is afraid of having to face a wave of Russian or American false information in the build-up to the European elections” writes the French daily, recalling that on May 5, 2017, tens of thousands of documents relating to the election campaign of Emmanuel Macron had been hacked and spread online. En Marche campaign director refuses to give clearance to media outlets Russia Today and Sputnik explaining that “fake news” is an armed wing of Rassamblement National and its allies. According to the European Commissioner for Justice, Věra Jourová, the risk of manipulation has never been so high, which is why she is urging large IT companies to intensify controls on online listings.
Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata, Ambassador, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and President of the Global Committee for the Rule of Law “Marco Pannella”, recently produced a Report (in Italian) analyzing in great detail the cyber-threat. The freedom we promote in countries such as Iran, Cambodia, Venezuela, China, Russia, etc. must be preserved and nurtured from Europe, home of the values of democracy and the rule of law.
Matteo Angioli