Disinformation and legislative elections in Slovakia: the battle of fake news
Disinformation has become a real scourge in the Slovak media landscape, particularly during the recent parliamentary elections. Voters are being inundated by an avalanche of misinformation from both domestic and foreign sources, with Russia at the forefront.
According to statistics from the British organization Reset, more than 365,000 messages containing election-related disinformation were published on Slovak social networks in the first two weeks of September. These messages, in violation of the platforms’ rules of use, generated more than five times more exposure than an average message.
However, it is important to emphasize that disinformation comes not only from foreign sources, but also from Slovak politicians themselves. The latter use disinformation as a communication tool in the public sphere, with former Prime Minister Robert Fico at the forefront. His videos are among the most popular in Slovakia on Facebook, YouTube and Telegram.
The spread of disinformation not only serves the interests of politicians, but also Russian interests. By repeating Moscow’s narrative on the war in Ukraine, Robert Fico is fueling Russian rhetoric that Ukrainian “fascists” have been killing Russian civilians since 2014. Other politicians, such as Andrej Danko, chairman of the Slovak National Party, are questioning also in question the history and facts regarding the territories occupied by Russia in Ukraine.
It should be noted that Slovakia has been a prime target of Russian disinformation since the annexation of Crimea in 2014. The Russian embassy in Slovakia is an important relay for this disinformation, being one of the most active on the networks. social networks, particularly on Facebook. Scandals have also erupted, revealing connections between some contributors to disinformation sites and the Russian embassy.
Faced with this spread of disinformation, analysts and experts are calling for greater vigilance on the part of voters, encouraging them to check sources of information and to be discerning in their consumption of information. Furthermore, civil organizations, such as Infosecurity.sk and Konspiratori.sk, play an important role in raising public awareness of this phenomenon and analyzing the mechanisms of disinformation.
It is essential to combat this scourge of disinformation, as it undermines citizens’ confidence in the democratic process and can have a significant impact on election results.. Slovak authorities and digital platforms must work together to put in place measures to limit the spread of disinformation and inform users about the veracity of the information they view.