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Regulating Disinformation and Big Tech in the EU: A Research Agenda on the Institutional Strategies, Public Spheres and Analytical Challenges

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  • Luis Bouza García
  • Alvaro Oleart

Abstract

The growing influence of social media platforms, and the disinformation that circulates in them, has transformed the public spheres. How to deal with disinformation is an open normative, empirical and political question in contemporary democracies. In this article, we outline an agenda on the institutional strategies pursued in the European Union (EU), the normative understandings of the public sphere that such strategies imply, and the analytical challenges to undertake this line of inquiry. We argue that there is an emerging competition in the EU field of disinformation – constructed by actors coming from different pre‐existing fields, such as journalism or foreign policy – not only to define what is ‘true’ from what is ‘fake’, but also to determine the sort of the public sphere and democracy we ought to strive for. This perspective allows us to anticipate which actors might be empowered (or disempowered) depending on how disinformation is addressed in regulatory terms.

Suggested Citation

  • Luis Bouza García & Alvaro Oleart, 2024. "Regulating Disinformation and Big Tech in the EU: A Research Agenda on the Institutional Strategies, Public Spheres and Analytical Challenges," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(5), pages 1395-1407, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jcmkts:v:62:y:2024:i:5:p:1395-1407
    DOI: 10.1111/jcms.13548
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Alvaro Oleart & Luis Bouza, 2018. "Democracy at Stake: Multipositional Actors and Politicization in the EU Civil Society Field," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/273672, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    2. Alvaro Oleart & Luis Bouza, 2018. "Democracy at Stake: Multipositional Actors and Politicization in the EU Civil Society Field," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(4), pages 870-887, May.
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    Cited by:

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    3. Jorge Tuñón Navarro & Luis Bouza García & Alvaro Oleart, 2025. "How the EU Counters Disinformation: Journalistic and Regulatory Responses," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 13.
    4. Emilio Del Pupo, 2026. "Contested Spaces: Civil Society Engagement in EU–Mercosur Trade Negotiations," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 64(4), pages 1431-1452, July.

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