Russia and China, as well as Iran to a certain extent, have used the coronavirus pandemic as an opportunity to interfere into democratic discourse and to present themselves as internationally responsible actors, while at the same time undermining democracy’s capacity to tackle the pandemic effectively, Program Manager and Fellow Nad’a Kovalčíková explains.
Disinformation erodes trust in institutions and in digital and traditional media and harms our democracies by hampering the ability of citizens to take informed decisions. It can polarize debates, create or deepen tensions in society and undermine electoral systems, and have a wider impact on European security.
In this interview, Nad’a Kovalčíková explains how to build an effective control disinformation system, what it should be based on, and what lessons the Visegrad Group can learn from the pandemic when it comes to the need to combat disinformation.