Documenting the Setbacks: The New Environment for Counter-Disinformation in Europe and Germany

This October 2025 report examines how Europe's counter-disinformation ecosystem is being reshaped by two converging pressures: hostile foreign actors who have intensified their operations, and shifting domestic and transatlantic politics — particularly platform demoderation following Elon Musk's acquisition of X and US political pressure on European fact-checking initiatives. Germany serves as the primary case study.

The report treats platform demoderation not as an independent development but as part of the same hostile information environment that foreign FIMI operations exploit. When platforms reduce content moderation, they become more permissive environments for the operations documented elsewhere in the grey literature.