Two analyses were produced as part of a multidisciplinary research undertaking on the spread of disinformation in Europe, which looked specifically at the case of the munitions depot explosion in Vrbětice, Czech Republic, to analyse effective policies and international cooperation in the fight against disinformation. The first one dealt with the description of the narratives that appeared on social media in connection with the case, as well as the main communication nodes on the Czech and Slovak Internet.
This second study focuses mainly on the identification of the Czech and Slovak disinformation environment, and in particular the ways of combating disinformation and the possibilities of cooperation across the Czech and Slovak space in tackling this still unrelenting issue. We find comparisons between the Czech and Slovak environments particularly useful because disinformation spreads differently in these countries, despite cultural, geographical and linguistic proximity – even in cases where they are similar in content. The practical outcome of the research is a set of recommendations for institutions and authorities on how to counter such massive disinformation campaigns and what preventive measures to take. The set of recommendations is divided into two parts: the first is more general so that it can be applied in all EU countries, and the second is country-specific.
This report was prepared with support from the European Media and Information Fund managed by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
