Ahead of European elections in June, Slovakia and other EU member states have become hotbeds of pro-Kremlin disinformation campaigns. Brian Carter went into the country to investigate.
advertisementOn May 15, 2024, hours after the attempted assassination of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico,News and conspiracy theories began to spread online.. Some of this speculation sought to link the alleged shooter, 71-year-old self-styled writer Juraj Cintula, to Slovakia’s main opposition party.
This type of disinformation is not at all surprising. Last April, Euronews visited Bratislava and reported the following: The scale of disinformation in SlovakiaThrough the experiences and perspectives of journalists, researchers, fact-checkers and media teachers who work to combat these false narratives and their devastating consequences for the country’s social cohesion and political stability.
erosion of trust
Disinformation – This can be defined as: Deliberately and often covertly spreading false information to influence public opinion Alternatively, the practice of obfuscating the truth has proliferated in Slovakia since the annexation of Crimea and the conflict in eastern Ukraine, largely promoted by Russian operatives inside and outside Slovakia seeking to influence public opinion.
The 2022 invasion of Ukraine and the adoption of false narratives by politicians have further exacerbated the spread of disinformation in the country, to the point where thousands of media outlets, Facebook pages and telegram channels are now parroting or simply spreading Moscow’s propaganda. lie.
like Veronika Frankowska, a Slovakian fact-checker, points out: “It doesn’t matter what you make people believe in a particular story. It simply undermines their trust in what they are reading, what they are seeing, and what they see around them. That’s either true or the whole thing is a bit unreliable. And you can’t trust anyone.”
disinformation about election issues;
As Europe prepares for European elections in June, Slovakia’s experience serves as a stark warning about the dangers of disinformation. Giovanni Zagni leads the EU elections task force. European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) says: “Ahead of the EU elections, we are seeing several major disinformation trends and stories. One has to do with the electoral process. For example, there is the climate issue. And another one is the immigration issue.”
It is important to proactively understand disinformation trends and educate the public about the media ecosystem. Preventing political discourse from being hijacked by false narratives, experts believe. This is especially true in an era where artificial intelligence and social media companies increasingly appear in our everyday information space.
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