Health disinformation is increasingly being weaponised as a tool of foreign interference, with consequences that extend beyond public health to the EU’s security and democratic resilience. False narratives about vaccines, disease outbreaks and scientific research can undermine trust in health authorities and institutions, discourage preventive behaviour and weaken responses to health emergencies. This makes health an important dimension of the EU’s efforts to counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI).
As the EU develops its response through the EEAS’s FIMI strategy and the European Democracy Shield, policymakers must also consider how foreign information campaigns exploit health-related vulnerabilities. Our new brief “Health Disinformation: A New Tool for Foreign Interference – How health became a target of information warfare” examines how these campaigns operate, their implications for public health and democratic resilience, and why health disinformation should feature more prominently in the EU’s approach to countering foreign interference.
© European Union, 2026, licensed under CC BY 4.0
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