During the multi-day training course, the participants were learned about advanced strategies and tools for effective communication in different security domains – land, sea, air, cyber and space. In this context, it is of utmost importance to be aware of the existence of disinformation and foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI). In her opening remarks, the Director pointed out that the spread of disinformation is rapidly increasing due to the growing presence of social platforms and artificial intelligence. Disinformation is harmful because it "undermines trust in institutions and the media, damages democracies, affects emotions, impedes freedom of expression and can influence people's behaviour or negatively affect people's health", she said.

To support democratic processes, it is important to be able to identify FIMI. It is a largely illegal pattern of behaviour, intended to influence social values, procedures and political processes. FIMI is a threat to national security and is a hybrid threat. Some countries have turned the creation of disinformation into a veritable industry in order to advance their economic and political interests. They spend enormous amounts of money and employ thousands of people to spread FIMI and disinformation, and use digital technology for nefarious purposes. They have set up troll farms or bot farms to spread FIMI and disinformation.

We are fighting disinformation at both the European and national levels. Slovenia has been an active participant in the Rapid Alert System (RAS) at the EU level since its establishment. This strengthens our cooperation and joint response to FIMI and disinformation.

"READ, THINK, CHECK"

An important part of the fight against disinformation is people's ability to identify disinformation. The Director explained that, to that end, the Government Communication Office and the Ministry of Digital Transformation have launched the awareness campaign Stop Disinformation: READ, THINK, CHECK. The aim of the campaign is to strengthen the identification of disinformation, with a focus on critical thinking, verifying information and sharing only verified information. We were particularly active in raising awareness in the run-up to the European Parliament elections, having been warned by the European institutions that disinformation would increase, and from 25 September to mid-October, as October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

The Director concluded her presentation by recommending that "when identifying disinformation, let us not be swayed by emotions, let us be critical about the purpose and source of the information, let us think before we share information and let us keep in mind that online, information is provided to us by an algorithm, a machine, based on our past searches".

Follow the Stop Disinformation profile

The GOV.SI website of the state administration has a thematic subpage on disinformation with additional in-depth content. You can also follow the Stop Disinformation or @SloVsDezinfo profile on social media X (in Slovene), Facebook (in Slovene) and Instagram (in Slovene).