© EP
13. November 2025

The shield for democracy is here – now it must be put to use!

Dear friends!

Yesterday, the European Commission published its long-awaited communication on the so-called European Democracy Shield.

As coordinator of the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament’s Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield (EUDS), I have been pushing in many discussions and meetings for the European Commission to really tackle the problems and consistently implement existing EU law, for example on the issue of distortion by algorithms. Now we know for sure whether this has worked. Here is my initial assessment and some background information.

What does the communication on the Democracy Shield say?

The EU Democracy Shield consists of three pillars:

  1. Preserving the integrity of the information space;
  2. Strengthening our institutions, fair and free elections, and free and independent media; and
  3. Strengthening the resilience of society and the engagement of citizens.

The European Commission then lists a number of areas for action and measures. At the heart of this is the establishment of a ‘European Centre for Democratic Resilience’. According to the Commission, this centre will ‘bring together the expertise and resources of the EU and Member States to increase our collective ability to anticipate, detect and respond to threats and build democratic resilience’, primarily through information exchange between Member States and the development of joint capabilities.

I believe that the new European Centre for Democratic Resilience is a step in the right direction, but it all depends on whether the European Commission actually takes action and does not just stand by and watch. This is precisely what has been lacking for years. There is no lack of evidence, but there is a lack of action.

A real step forward is the call to address systemic risks to public discourse and elections within the framework of the Digital Services Act.

The Commission has long shied away from this step. As of yesterday, it is official.

If the European Commission finally takes action, all the other measures proposed in the Democracy Shield can have a positive impact on democracy. The communication clearly states that opaque algorithms and recommendation systems that decide what millions of citizens see, think and share every day are the main risk that needs to be addressed with robust enforcement under the DSA. Growing evidence (a detailed list at the end of this email) shows how algorithms favour extremist and polarising content, including disinformation.

If Commissioner McGrath is calling for the enforcement of systemic risk mitigation, the responsible Commissioner Virkkunen must finally take action and ensure that anti-democratic algorithms are changed!

Currently, even in the most serious cases of election interference and suppression of freedom of expression, such as in the elections in Romania and Germany, the EU Commission has not yet concluded its proceedings against certain large platforms. Article 35 of the DSA clearly states that in the case of systemic risks, changes to algorithms are a legally prescribed risk mitigation measure. It is time to act!

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The European Democracy Shield also addresses AI-generated manipulation and monetisation.

However, the Commission mainly proposes coordination structures and voluntary commitments. That is not enough. As long as the problem of monetisation, i.e. the fact that platforms earn a lot of money from hate, disinformation and deepfakes, is only mentioned but not solved, it only helps the tech bros. As long as the measures are voluntary, the financial incentive for spreading hate, disinformation and deepfakes is too great for digital platforms to take serious action.

The problem is that lies and fakes are perceived as facts when they are repeated constantly. We know that lies spread faster than facts on social media.

If we want facts to have a real chance, it is crucial to restore a level playing field in the online space, where people choose their own content. Very few people choose disinformation. By giving people back control over their content, rather than treating engagement-based rankings and algorithms designed by billionaires as a law of nature, we are protecting democracy. True democratic resilience requires more than early warning systems – it requires the courage to confront the digital manipulation architectures that have already redefined Europe’s information space.

Only consistent enforcement of the Digital Services Act and the AI Act will compel platforms to create a level playing field for facts without suppressing high-quality media content.

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What happens next?

The Commission’s communication sets out the key points for a whole series of legislative texts that are now coming and must pass through Parliament. Here, I will work to ensure that the right direction is maintained and that the measures are given plenty of clout.

But the Commission can already do much more with existing laws. Now that the systemic risks of algorithms are also officially recognised by the European Commission, consistent measures are urgently needed to ensure that genuine freedom of expression prevails on platforms once again. We must now put an end to our fear of threats from the US government. If the Commission is calling for it in its Democracy Shield, then now is the time to really enforce democracy-friendly algorithms!

With European regards,

Yours, Alexandra Geese

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Studies that prove political bias on very large online platforms:

My topics

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