Project: RECLAIM

Authors: Lucas Proto, Paula Lamoso-González and Luis Bouza García

This article critically examines the strategic decision of the European Union External Action Service (EEAS) to reframe the concept of misinformation as Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference. The EEAS, particularly its Strategic Communications Division, has been at the forefront of combating disinformation within the EU. Initially mandated by the European Council in 2015 to counter Russian disinformation campaigns, the EEAS pioneered the framing of this complex phenomenon as an external threat, significantly shaping subsequent European perceptions and policies.