Evolution of the European Union's approach to countering disinformation

The article assesses the political and legal framework, the process of evolution and the current state of the structures of the European Union responsible for countering disinformation. The EU’s approach involves the use of a wide range of means - from informing the public to removing online content using artificial intelligence technologies. Different means are used both directly by the EU institutions and by their partners. The growing influence of non-state actors, in particular, business companies that have valuable big data amounts and analysis tools that are less accessible to EU institutions, forced the latter to look for ways to control the online space. The military dimension of strategic communication (and, within its framework, the struggle against disinformation) is manifested in the intensification of EU - NATO cooperation, and (in legal framework) in the inclusion of wars in the list of emergencies in the Digital Services Act. The author reveals that the mechanism of countering disinformation in the EU is actively used for political purposes. Not only the struggle against disinformation, but also strategic communication itself in the EU was initially subordinated to the tasks of limiting the influence of economic rivals and political opponents. Both the previously created tools and the decisions of 2020-2021 that introduce common rules for regulating online content for the EU, in a situation of further deterioration of relations between the EU and Russia, can be used not only to protect the objective rights of European citizens, but also to discredit our country within the framework of psychological warfare.