Sofia, 12 June (BTA/GNA) – Vice President Describes Disinformation as Major Challenge to Democracy
“Disinformation is one of the biggest challenges to democracy,” Vice President Iliana Iotova said on Monday, speaking at a conference on “Organized Civil Society against Disinformation”. The event was organized by Bulgaria’s Economic and Social Council in collaboration with the European Economic and Social Committee.
According to Iotova, fake news is based on strategies aimed to manipulate public opinion and weaken well-functioning institutions.
She argued: “Fake rumours and disinformation have been a threat to the world for a very long time, but nowadays the danger is far greater than before, because digital platforms amplify the propaganda and the spread of fake news. In a highly competitive environment, the media rely on information subsidies and publish content from other media without offering a link to the original, or often publish only part of the original and thus change the content. This is another kind of fake news.”
Iotova cited an April 2023 Eurobarometer survey showing that 60% of Bulgarians think they can tell disinformation. “At the same time, Bulgaria was swept by skepticism about the coronavirus pandemic and vaccination,” the Vice President remarked. “Conspiracy theories are quite common in the public domain while media literacy is very low. Bulgaria has the lowest media literacy level among the EU member states.”
She said the fight against disinformation requires assistance from the state through specialized institutions, regulators and a legal framework setting out rules for the use of online platforms.
Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) Director General Kiril Valchev said: “Disinformation should be curbed with more information rather than censorship. It is the citizens, not the government and its institutions, that should counter disinformation. You can shut down the internet, block mobile applications, ban media outlets, impose penal sanctions for short or long periods of time – but history tells us that this never lasts forever.”
Valchev added: “The most important thing about fighting disinformation is not to restrict the sources but to know the source.”
BTA/GNA