Thursday Seminars by Sabri Derinöz

Unpacking the Framing of Democracy in EU Institutional Discourses on Disinformation Mitigation 

Abstract

How do European institutions frame democracy in their discourses and policies about disinformation mitigation? Disinformation is often presented by EU institutions as a threat to democracy that must be resolved (Navarro et al., 2025), which has led to the development of multiple intervention strategies. Some scholars consider that, in the context of democratic backsliding, European institutional discourses defend “a technocratic legalistic perspective [of democracy] over a democratic pluralist one” (Oleart & Theuns, 2023). This presentation examines how key European institutional documents addressing disinformation (and its mitigation) participate in constructing specific understandings of democracy, particularly through the central place they attribute to information and to the ecosystem that produces and circulates it (the media, the public sphere). Drawing on a pragmatist understanding of the sociology of public problems, where problems are constructed through discourse, and their framing lead to design specific solutions (Cefaï, 1996; Widmer, 2010; Arquembourg, 2016), the analysis focuses on how these documents mobilise notions such as informed citizenship, public debate and quality information and how these discourses outline a specific democratic imaginary that might influence the range of responses considered appropriate to address contemporary democratic challenges. 

Bio

Sabri Derinöz is a researcher in media and communication studies who focuses on the construction of public problems through discourse. He is currently part of the EDMO BELUX consortium, which aims to mitigate disinformation through a multidisciplinary approach.