On February 9th, the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ICDS held a seminar on disinformation titled „Fake or News? “. The seminar was introduced and moderated by ICDS Chief Executive, Dmitri Teperik. The speakers were Mr. Jakub Kalensky from the East StratCom Task Force of the European External Action Service, Ms. Donara Barojan from the NATO StratCom Centre of Excellence, and Mr. Frederick Fooy from the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency. Various issues were discussed, including the means, goals, and consequences of pro-Kremlin disinformation campaigns, several web tools to identify disinformation efforts and fake news, as well as how a pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign is conducted in Sweden.
It is evident that the risk and ease of spreading false information in today’s interconnected and networked societies has substantially increased. This seminar shed light on the importance of forecasting and responding to disinformation, especially given its potential to influence and divide populations, later affecting decision-making processes. The main take away was the need to highlight the growing significance of addressing and tackling disinformation efforts across all sectors, governments, and societies.