Home > 2.9 Electoral offences and sanctions > SERBIA - Joint opinion on the constitutional and legal framework governing the functioning of democratic institutions - Electoral law and electoral administration
 
 
 
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Paragraph 90
 

In its Resolution 2254 (2019) on media freedom as a condition for democratic elections, PACE called on member states to implement effective strategies to protect the electoral process from disinformation and undue propaganda through social media, proposing, among other measures, “specific regulatory frameworks for Internet content at election times and include in these frameworks provisions on transparency in relation to sponsored content published on social media, so that the public can be aware of the source that funds electoral advertising or any other information or opinion’’. In recent years, Council of Europe member states, as well as the EU, have taken different regulatory approaches to balance freedom of expression with effective prevention of disinformation in general and electoral processes in particular, ranging from criminalisation to placing enforcement duties on social media platforms. Particular care must be taken when defining disinformation so that the scope of the regulation does not disproportionately interfere with freedom of expression.