Balkan SAYS 2024 seminar for students on countering disinformation

13. 9. 2024

Government Communication Office

At the panel “Information Disruption: Strengthening the West's Resilience against Foreign Information Manipulation”, Petra Bezjak Cirman, Director of the Government Communication Office (UKOM), presented the government's activities in countering disinformation to European students at the 12th “Balkan SAYS (Security Architecture Youth Seminar) 2024” seminar in Ljubljana.

The Director of the Government Communication Office sits at a desk next to the other two speakers, speaking to students in the hall. Next to the table is a lectern with a moderator standing behind it. — Katja Geršak, Major General Dobran Božič, Petra Bezjak Cirman and Igor Zidarič.

"Before the European elections, together with the Ministry for Digital Transformation, we launched a campaign to raise awareness among Slovenian citizens about the dangers of spreading disinformation and the importance of verifying information. Under the slogan 'Stop Disinformation – READ, THINK, CHECK', we carried out various communication and promotional activities. The campaign included advertising in the Slovenian media, as well as collaboration with Slovenian influencers on one of the major social networks," said Bezjak Cirman. In coordination with the East StratCom Task Force of the European External Action Service, responsible for the EUvsDisinfo website, UKOM started translating their weekly newsletter into Slovenian, which is published on the national portal GOV.SI. The Weekly Bulletin (Tedenski bilten) provides an overview of the most important attempts by foreign actors to manipulate and interfere in the information space of the European Union and its neighbourhood.

"It is important that people are made aware of the phenomenon of FIMI (foreign information manipulation and interference) and the spread of disinformation, its dangers and the impact it has on their work and lives. UKOM has therefore launched a disinformation awareness website on the government portal GOV.SI, which provides basic information on the subject," emphasized the UKOM Director.

A working group has been set up at the Secretariat of the National Security Council of Slovenia since November 2023 to monitor foreign attempts to interfere in our democratic processes. The panel, chaired by Igor Zidarič (Euro-Atlantic Council of Slovenia), also included Major General Dobran Božič, Military Adviser to the Minister of Defence, and Katja Geršak, Executive Director of Regional Dialogue.