The European Union supports the 2019 edition of the Global Forum on Strategic Communications (October 23-24, 2019) organized by the Atlantic Council at the House of Sweden. Other partners include the Embassy of Sweden, the Embassy of Lithuania, and the UK Foreign Service.

During the Forum, EU speakers will present the EU's response to disinformation:

• HE Stavros Lambrinidis, EU Ambassador to the U.S., will speak at the opening dinner for event partners on Tuesday, October 22;
• Vera Jourova, European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, will deliver a video message on Wednesday, October 23 at 11.15 AM EST (watch here);
• Anneli Ahonen, Head of the EEAS East StratCom Taskforce, will speak during the goverment session on best practices on adressing disinformation (by invitation only) on Thursday, October 24 at 3.30 PM EST.

Over the past 4 years, the EU has considerably increased its capabilities to better grasp and respond to disinformation efforts, election interference and hate speech online:

• EEAS East Stratcom Taskforce created in 2015, followed by the creation of the EEAS Western Balkans and South Taskforces. The EUvsDisinfo portal debunked 6,500 disinformation cases since its creation
• EU Internet Forum created in 2015 to counter terrorist content and hate speech online
• Code of Conduct on Countering Illegal Hate Speech Online adopted in May 2016
• European Commission Communication on Tackling online disinformation: a European Approach released in April 2018
• Code of Practice on Disinformation published in September 2018
• European Commission Action Plan against Disinformation published in December 2018
• Creation of the EU Rapid Alert System in March 2019

Useful links:

WATCH THE FORUM LIVE

FORUM AGENDA

FACTSHEET ON EU EFFORTS TO ADDRESS DISINFORMATION