With the growing role of social platforms and the development of artificial intelligence, the possibilities for spreading disinformation are increasing rapidly. Last week, a fake video with the image and voice of the Prime Minister, Robert Golob, was also released in Slovenia, clearly showing that Slovenia is not immune to disinformation.

What is disinformation?

Disinformation is misleading or inaccurate information disseminated by individuals, organisations and countries to deliberately mislead or manipulate people and public opinion.

It is most effective in times of crisis, uncertainty and general dissatisfaction, because it works at an emotional level, influencing people's opinions and therefore decisions. Its purpose is to create confusion, sow anger and fear, and damage the reputation of people, organisations or institutions, and even whole countries. The problem of the spread of false information is most acute in times of crisis, such as during the Covid-19 pandemic. All European institutions are warning us that we can expect a new wave of disinformation campaigns ahead of the upcoming European elections.

Disinformation is used to exaggerate differences in public controversies or even to influence political processes. It is a threat to democracies because it aims to undermine trust in state institutions and the media, thereby chipping away at people’s faith in democracy by reducing their ability to make decisions based on credible data and information.

reREAD, reTHINK, RECHECK

The Government Communications Office, together with the Ministry of Digital Transformation, has decided to start actively raising public awareness about what disinformation is and how to identify it. Under the slogan Stop disinformation – reREAD, reTHINK, RECHECK, we will carry out various communication and promotional activities.

We have set up a thematic subpage on disinformation on the GOV.SI portal, which provides guidance on how to identify disinformation and prevent it from spreading. We will also raise public awareness through our X, Facebook and Instagram social media profiles.

Our communication will stress the importance of verifying information before sharing it. We have formulated simple recommendations on how to identify disinformation, and on 24 May 2024 we will publish a government GOVSI podcast on the subject.

In cooperation with the East StratCom Task Force, part of the European External Action Service, which manages the publications on the EUvsDisinfo website, we will translate their weekly newsletter and publish it on. The weekly newsletter provides an overview of the most high-profile Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) attempts by external actors in the European Union and its neighbourhood. In the future, we will also provide translations of some of the other content on EUvsDisinfo.

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