Focus on disinformation: Experts warn of foreign influences!

Focus on disinformation: Experts warn of foreign influences!

Laimgrubengasse 10, 1060 Wien, Österreich - On November 29, 2024, a conference in Vienna met under the title "Foreign Interference, Subversion & Disinformation", in which leading experts, diplomats and political mans took part. US diplomat Elizabeth Martin-Shucrun opened the event and made it clear that the fight against disinformation requires close cooperation between state institutions and civil society. Dietmar Pichler, host and representative of the Disinfo Resilience Network, emphasized the still great importance of classic influence operations, especially by pro-Russian actors. This was also taken up by politicians Lukas Mandl and David Stögmüller, who pointed out the challenges of anti-Western narratives in the media, which are not only present in digital space, but also in traditional media, such as reported.

The discussion also contained critical reviews of the events of 2014, in particular the hidden Russian invasion of East Ukraine. Journalists like Stefan Schocher and scientist like Martin Malek illuminated the media reporting and criticized the distorted representation in the German -speaking media. In this context, the book "Russia's war against Ukraine: Facts and Perspectives" by Oksana Stavrou was presented, which pleads for a fact -based discourse. In addition, David Christopher Jaklin, an expert in hybrid threats, addressed the complexity of these threats that go beyond digital attacks and can also include sabotage or physical attacks. These facets of disinformation and influence are not only historically significant, but also in view of the developments in today's geopolitical landscape of the greatest relevance, as has already been shown in scientific publications, including a current analysis on the spread of disinformation by social media ( Springer ).