Migration as a threat was the most common thread of disinformation being spread before the 2019 EP elections, a GLOBSEC report suggests. (source: AP/SITA)
The European Union is a negative institution and migration is a threat: These are the two most common narratives used by dozens of Facebook pages spreading fake news in three central European countries, a study published by the Slovak think tank GLOBSEC has revealed.
15 Czech disinformation FB pages studied by PSSI:
AC 24
Časopis Šifra
České národní listy
Česko aktuálně
Český Zpravodaj
Organizace proti multikulturnímu fanatismu
Parlamentní listy
Pravý prostor
Proč Proto
Protiproud
Sputnik CZ
Středoevropan
Svobodné noviny
Zastavme zloděje
Zpravodajství bez cenzury
“The objective was to find out which political parties are promoted on these channels and which narratives have dominated in the context of the upcoming European Parliament election,” said GLOBSEC analyst Miroslava Sawirisová, as quoted by the TASR newswire.
Hungary takes the lead
The most intensive disinformation campaign is in Hungary, where analysts studied 2,189 posts. Misleading information is promoted by pro-government media outlets, the study reads.
To compare, Slovakia published 175 posts and the Czech Republic 104, which have been shared by the alternative media channels.
GLOBSEC, in cooperation with the Prague Security Studies Institute (PSSI) in the Czech Republic and the Political Capital in Hungary, monitored the content of 45 Facebook pages, 15 pages in each country, between April 10 and May 10.
