Different age groups in societies need to be approached differently
Petra Blažić, project manager at the Center for European Perspective in Slovenia. Photo: Meta.mk, used with permission.
This article was originally published by Meta.mk. An edited version is republished here as part of a content sharing agreement between Global Voices and Metamorphosis Foundation.
Meta.mk spoke with Petra Balažič, Slovenian project manager Center for European Perspective (CEP), which works in the Western Balkans region to increase resilience against disinformation. She stressed that the spread of disinformation is a matter of security and stability for the Western Balkan countries, but also that different age groups in societies should be approached differently when it comes to combating disinformation. disinformation.
Meta.mk: Do you or your organization view the problem of disinformation as a stability and security problem?
Petra Balažič (PB): Disinformation is most certainly a stability and security problem. What disinformation attempts to do is expose and exploit the vulnerabilities of societies to tear them apart.
If disinformation campaigns succeed and lose societal cohesion, then you find yourself in a situation where implementing democratic principles, norms and practices becomes very difficult.
When there is a lack of societal cohesion, there is greater antagonism within society, which also invites, in the worst cases, aggression, violence and refusal to work together for a common future.
Meta.mk: Please tell us more about the CEP’s work in combating disinformation in the Western Balkan countries.
BP: The Center for European Perspective is an institution established in 2020 by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovenia. Since then, we have grown significantly and are implementing a large number of successful projects, as we have proven through our hard work that we are trustworthy and thanks to this we have received many projects.
We implement projects in regional cooperation, peace and security, strategic communications, strengthen societal resilience and combat misinformationand of course the flagship product Bled Strategic Forum, very well known in this part of the world. And this is really something that we, as the Center for European Perspective and as Slovenia, are really proud of.
We are trying to get the government, the media and civil society organizations to work together to maintain a dialogue and ultimately get to a point where they can jointly establish national mechanisms to combat disinformation.
Having a strategy in place means you know how you define disinformation, who is responsible for countering it and how, how you will communicate the response to the population as well as which sector will be responsible for which part of the defense. This concerns both sectors within government and sectors of society as a whole.
I would also like to mention another project which has been very successful and which is complementary to the project I have just described, namely the European Exchange on Digital Diplomacy. This is a project focused on proactively building social resilience to disinformation through successful strategic government and corporate communications to inoculate societies against disinformation. This project has now been running for six years and has truly been a great success. And this not only includes the Western Balkans, but also the Eastern Partnership countriesthe Baltic countries, the United States and Canada.
Meta.mk: Do you think it is possible for the government, civil society and the media to sit around the same table and discuss a strategy to combat disinformation?
BP: I have to believe it’s possible. And I do. Honestly, I believe in my heart that it is possible. I think it takes time. I think it takes a lot of energy and unwavering commitment. It requires an investment both in terms of time and in terms of the many frustrations we encounter along the way. That doesn’t stop us. And I believe there is the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.
To a certain extent, distrust between sectors makes sense, but it is not an endgame either. It doesn’t have to be that way. If we maintain this dialogue, we can rebuild this trust. Three good people – one in each sector – can be enough to take a step forward. We obviously hope there will be more than three, but we are confident that over time we will be able to bring more people on board and rebuild trust.
I want to mention at this point that we had in June Portorožin Slovenia, a regional training on the fight against disinformation. And we had representatives from all Western Balkan governments, Western Balkan media and Western Balkan civil society joining us in Portorož. People from three sectors worked together around the same table. Things haven’t always gone smoothly, but I’ve seen the dialogue continue and that’s a good sign that when we all get together next time, we can take a step forward.
Meta.mk: the CEP publication Information warfare and the fight for truth exposed the tactics and harmful effects of foreign disinformation perpetuated in the Western Balkans, warning of their impact. What other takeaways can you share?
BP: This post also showed that misinformation is part of broader influence campaigns. The information space is only one piece of the influencer campaign puzzle. This affects the economy. This affects diplomacy. This affects relations with our Euro-Atlantic partners.
It is very important, first of all, to realize that disinformation exists, that it is part of a larger problem and that we are currently still unable to counter it effectively in the Western Balkans. And that’s why it’s important to continue working on it. And in terms of awareness, we must also be able to engage research and institutions to explore this phenomenon in the most results-oriented way possible.
Meta.mk: Do you think young people are particularly vulnerable to the harmful influence of misinformation narratives?
Petra Balažič: Our project is not specifically aimed at young people. However, young people are part of society and we obviously also take this into account. Often, when we talk with our partners, this question comes up. Young people are as vulnerable as any other part of society, but in a different way.
The way misinformation reaches them is different from the way it reaches older populations and generations. We need to consider the ways misinformation proliferates among young people. We also need to think about how to explain to young people the dangers of misinformation.
Furthermore, it is important to show young people that they have a say, that their voice counts, that things can change for the better and that they do not need to give in to apathy, which is increasing for young people.
And that’s something we can achieve if we give young people the proper perspective and make sure they know that even if bad actors try to convince them that there is no way forward, especially when it comes to (joining) the European Union or Euro-Atlanticism in general, this is not and does not need to be true.
As I mentioned, we need to understand that generations operate differently and face their own challenges. For older generations, using the digital sphere can be a challenge in itself. And it’s important for older generations to learn how to navigate the digital sphere and explain to them that not everything written online is true.
Younger generations don’t necessarily have this problem. Younger generations have been raised with tablets, computers and smartphones. They know how to navigate this space. They probably know how to do this better than, you know, middle generations like Gen X or even Millennials. What’s important for us now is not to show them how to navigate this space and tell them that not everything written on the Internet is true. They know that. But we must be able to communicate with them as effectively and attractively as our adversaries do.
We need to make sure they are able to recognize when something has malicious intent and when it doesn’t. I think this is a very important point. The main way to do this is through education and critical thinking. And this doesn’t have to be limited exclusively to media literacy; we need to promote critical thinking in its more general form.
And this is something that the education systems of the Western Balkans, but also of Slovenia and most other countries in the world, could do better and should constantly improve, in order to have new and young generations capable of thinking in a critical. So when they receive information, they are able to determine whether it makes sense or not.