Scientists, journalists and experts from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Croatia, Montenegro, the Republic of Moldova, North Macedonia, Romania and Serbia present the content and narratives of disinformation, address the political context as well as the media situation and point out countermeasures against disinformation that have already been taken in the respective countries. For the first time, the book offers a compact approach to a multi-layered threat in a politically and socially highly complex region. A chapter on disinformation in Germany is also added to the study. The publication was coordinated by Dr. Christopher Nehring, guest lecturer of the KAS Media Programme on Disinformation at Sofia University.
Hendrik Sittig, Head of the KAS Media Programme: "Disinformation and fake news are digital Plague of our time. It is a real threat to democracy, peace and social cohesion. And mostly, they are produced and distributed precisely for that reason. We have underestimated this danger too long. There is an urgent need for more targeted and stronger actions against them."
Dr. Christopher Nehring, guest lecturer of the KAS Media Programme for Disinformation at Sofia University: "This study is an eye-opener! Examples from all over the region show that there is a lot of disinformation coming from other countries – whether in the case of Corona or currently in the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. Other narratives are country-specific. In Romania, for example, anti-corruption is presented as part of a conspiracy. The problem in all countries, however, is that there is a strong mistrust in society, weak quality media and little media education. This is an ideal breeding ground for disinformation."
The KAS Media Programme Southeast Europe is going to present the study at the international conference on disinformation in the region on the 4th of April 2023 in Sofia. The event will bring together disinformation experts from across Europe, journalists, academics and politicians. The authors of the study provide an overview of their findings on the main actors and the most widespread narratives in this field. Important topics are how journalists deal with false information, the development of countermeasures and the development of resilience and strategies against disinformation. In addition, Dr. Christopher Nehring, is going to give an insight into disinformation in the Metaverse and the use of Artificial Intelligence (including Deepfakes, ChatGPT).