EU leaders have confirmed they will tighten online censorship throughout the bloc as part of their 20th package of sanctions against Russia.
The restrictions — approved alongside a zero-interest €90 billion EU loan to Ukraine — will further restrict what content Europeans are allowed to view online over war propaganda fears.
According to a press release from the European Commission — which spearheaded the new sanctions package — Moscow is still managing to successfully spread “disinformation” throughout the EU despite its state broadcasters having largely been banned from the bloc’s internet since 2022.
As a result, tighter measures are now needed, with the new sanctions package implementing a blanket ban on social media accounts and websites that “mirror” Russian news material.
“[The] new measures also tackle mirror outlets that circumvent the broadcasting ban by spreading the same content as listed propaganda media outlets (such as Russia Today, Sputnik etc.) online,” a press release from the Commission reads.
“The content of these mirror sites and domains will also be banned from distribution in the EU. This will facilitate the faster takedown or blocking of online sites that act as proxies or clones of official media outlets’ channels.”
According to the legal documents drafted for the new sanctions package, online organisations or personalities will need to meet at least two of five criteria to be banned: They have “substantially identical content or feeds” to already banned media outlets; They have a “continuity of branding, design or user interface”; They have “overlapping ownership, control or management”; They operate off of a “redirection or migration of users from a legal person, entity or body” that is already banned; and on whether they have a “continuity of technical infrastructure, including use of the same code base, domains or applications”.
The new package of restrictions will also prohibit any use or interaction with a variety of Russian centralised and decentralised cryptocurrency exchanges, with both private and state-owned cryptocurrencies themselves also being banned from use within Europe.
Other measures include restrictions on the use of Russian ports, restrictions on certain Russian-owned and operated oil tankers, as well as punitive measures on third countries that help Moscow evade sanctions.
Thursday’s package coincided with the approval of an interest-free €90 billion EU loan to Ukraine to help fund its economy and war efforts.
The cash injection had been delayed for a number of months as a result of opposition from Hungary, with tensions between Budapest and Kyiv prompting the outgoing Fidesz government to hold up the funds.
Such opposition has now been abandoned as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán spends his final days in power, with the long-time leader set to be replaced by opposition firebrand Péter Magyar.
A former member of Fidesz himself, Magyar won the Hungarian general election earlier this month on a platform of anti-corruption, along with promises to forge better relations with Brussels.
Since his victory, the PM-elect has not been as soft on the EU as many had expected, insisting that Hungary will need to keep buying Russian oil and gas, while also rejecting any notion that his government will loosen immigration rules.