Distorted information, or false speeches, instill a climate of mistrust in the country. But certain actors are trying to fight against this phenomenon, and the stakes remain high as the European elections approach.
In the hours following the attempted assassination of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on May 15, 2024, fake news and conspiracy theories began circulating online. Some of the speculation attempted to link the suspected shooter, Juraj Cintula, a 71-year-old self-described writer, to Slovakia’s main opposition party.
This type of misinformation is hardly surprising. Last April, Euronews traveled to Bratislava to report on the extent of disinformation in Slovakia, through the experience and points of view of journalists, researchers, fact checkers and teachers who combat these false speeches and their devastating consequences on social cohesion and political stability in the country.
Disinformation – which can be defined as false information spread deliberately and often covertly in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth – has grown in Slovakia since the annexation of Crimea and the conflict in eastern Ukraine, fueled primarily by Russian agents both inside and outside Slovakia who seek to influence public opinion.
The 2022 invasion of Ukraine and misleading political figures have further exacerbated the spread of disinformation in the country, to the point where today there are thousands of media outlets, Facebook pages and of telegram channels that repeat Moscow’s propaganda or simply spread lies.
As Veronika Frankovská, a Slovak fact checker, points out: “It’s not about making people believe a certain story, but simply about eroding their confidence in what they read, what they see and what they can look around, to know if it’s true or if it’s all a bit dodgy, and you can’t trust anyone.” As Europe prepares for June’s European elections, Slovakia’s experience serves as a stark warning about the dangers of disinformation. Giovanni Zagni, who leads a working group on the European elections for the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO), says: “As the European elections approach, we are seeing some major trends and disinformation narratives. One of them is “among them concerns the electoral process. Then there is, for example, the question of climate and finally, the question of immigration.
Experts say understanding misinformation trends in advance and educating the public about the media ecosystem is critical to preventing political discourse from being hijacked by false narratives. Especially at a time when artificial intelligence and social media companies are increasingly present in our daily information space.