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Conference “Confronting Euro myths” on disinformation, of dismantling myths spread both in the public space and in the press
A network meant to counter fake news was set up within EU. How fake news spreads in the digital field will be followed by counteract measures, said Angela Cristea, head of European Commission office in Romania on Tuesday.
“Spreading fake news is immediate and universal and lays huge responsibility on each Internet user and especially on opinion leaders. What can we do? First of all, the press, as guardian, the watchdog of democracy, can strengthen its immunity system to point out and combat fake news. Certainly, together we can create a common front because we already have, within EU, a network of 400 journalists, public officers, activists from NGOs, fighting against fake news,” said Angela Cristea at a conference on disinformation, of dismantling myths spread both in the public space and in the press.
The European Commission, she added, adopted last year a behaviour code meant to fight discourses encouraging hatred and announced last week that legislative measures will be adopted for the single market, the digital space and the way in which fake news spreads uncontrolled in the digital space.
According to Cristea, such a conference is necessary because of the direct anti EU movements and fake news.
“We see a change of political landscape in EU, with considerable advance of anti-system, anti-EU, extremist parties, a success of populist parties and of course this aspect preoccupies us. We have a paradoxical situation in which people who work in a EU institution and are paid by European tax payers are against that institution or are for their countries’ leaving EU, although they are EU employees,” Cristea pointed out.
In her opinion, there is a vicious circle whose functioning should be stopped.
“On one hand, the drop of confidence toward EU leads to the success of anti European parties in elections, and the success of those parties continues to feed distrust toward EU. It is a vicious circle we want to stop and we are interested in knowing the mechanism leading to those phenomena, being aware that there are objective factors and legitimate fears causing the EU citizens’ distrust,” Cristea showed.
In his speech, Armand Gosu, assistant professor at Bucharest University, spoke about “propaganda and fake news, a geo-strategic perspective” and considers that only by consolidating institutions and educating electors, the public opinion, the young generation in matters of the press, this kind of propaganda can be counteracted.
Corina Rebegea, from the Analysis Centre of European Politics, spoke about “Narratives, techniques and media”.
“I am speaking about an ecosystem of disinformation, as we do not have influence agents or people paid by the Kremlin to spread narratives, fake news and conspiracy theories. They are strengthened by the media in Romania. We have obscure websites, Internet platforms, which are just vehicles for certain messages, especially conspiracy theories which spread fear, panic among people, in order to awaken negative feelings, in particular about being part of NATO,”Rebegea said.
She added that measures to be adopted concern the adaptation of laws of the audiovisual to the “climate” in which we live, so that they exerted efficient control based on sanctions.
“Maybe it is time to reopen the conversation on the journalists’ self control ways and their responsibility, which should continue to convey facts, information. We also need resources, invested in communication campaigns. We must understand how something untrue is created, is spread and who it serves, because thus we will know how to judge him. We also need projects for the investigation journalist,” Rebegea added.
The conference “Confronting Euro myths”was organized by the EC Office in Bucharest, with the participation of researchers and experts in communication techniques, Romanian and foreign journalists.