Multilayered democracy, media freedom and online platforms

Abstract

Paradoxically, the EU which is a sui generis polity largely based on intergovernmental cooperation and supranational bureaucracy, has become the main guarantor of democracy in Europe. In 2025, the European Democracy Shield was adopted to reinforce situational awareness, strengthen democratic institutions and boosting social resilience and citizen’s engagement. As the Union lacks unambiguous powers to protect forms of governance, the shield consists mainly of frameworks for collaboration between national authorities and EU institutions. However, the Union’s competences to establish and maintain an internal market has become a route to promote informed opinion-formation which is the very foundation for democracy. Within the scope of EU law, the EU institutions as well as the national norm giving powers must always take fundamentalrights and interests recognised in the EU Charter into account. Primarily the freedom of expression and information enshrined in Article11 of the EU Charter is, therefore, transposed into the regulation of media and platform services within the Union. It is a delicate matter to reconcile on the one hand the right to freely receive and impart information including media freedom and pluralism, and on the other hand to repress disinformation and protect the integrity and relevance of media providers acting under editorial responsibility. Indeed, a primary objective of the Democracy Shield is to protect against foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI) in electoral as well as in legislative processes. Hence, the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) and the Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising Act (TTPA) which took effect in 2025, are important components of the Shield. Since platform providers are in most instances not media service providers, they are instead subject to the legal and institutional framework established by the Digital Service Act (DSA). On occasion, conduct by platform providers can also be considered anticompetitive and infringe the Digital Markets Act (DMA) formedia content providers and social-media platform providers. In this contribution, the interrelations between the relevant legal frameworks are explored. As an overall theme the reconceptualization of democracy within the EU, from being merely a matter of parliamentary majority to being anchored in fundamental rights, is discussed.

Received: 19 January 2026 
Accepted: 5 February 2026