Demonetisation of anti-democratic and extreme content

Policy Brief

The proposed European Democracy Shield (EUDS) aims to fortify the EU’s democratic systems against disinformation, foreign interference, and evolving digital threats. While building on the existing regulatory backbone, the Shield’s effectiveness will depend on actionable solutions that address the business models fuelling disinformation. A central recommendation to ensure the success of the EUDS is to make demonetisation of disinformation a priority, ensuring that online platforms and disinformation creators cannot profit from or facilitate the spread of false content.

This includes enforcing transparency in ad revenue sharing, particularly for influencers, and requiring disclosure of political ties through established ad repositories. The Shield should also address gaps in national language moderation, ensuring platforms allocate resources proportionally to user bases, and update trust and safety tools to filter AI- generated, mass-produced content.

Furthermore, stable funding for civil society and independent journalism must be integrated into EU budget priorities. By focusing on these targeted measures, the Shield can move beyond patchwork regulation and provide a future-proof framework for defending democracy in the digital age.

Recommendations include:

• Strengthening national language moderation capacities
• Transparency for paid influencers
• Addressing gaps in NGO funding
• Closing the AI-generated, mass-produced content loop
• Transparency for monetisation mechanisms