Disinformation Experts Leaving Fico's Government In Slovakia

2023-11-24 03:10:39

(MENAFN- UkrinForm) Ministry staffers who used to work on tackling disinformation are quitting jobs after the Smer-SD party took power, citing interference and incompatibility, as government members spread hoaxes and pro-Russian narratives.

That's according to Euractiv, Ukrinform reports.

Interventions in the fight against disinformation are a significant problem, as Slovakia is one of the countries whose citizens are significantly prone to
believe in conspiracies, the report reads.

The new head of the Slovak Government Office, Juraj Gedra from Smer-SD, has targeted the experts in a video:“These are dozens of political activists who were supposed to make sure that people in Slovakia had the one obligatory correct opinion on topics such as the war in Ukraine, the European Union, NATO, the migration crisis or alternative media,” he said,
Denník N
reported.

David Puchovský, a social media administrator of the Slovak police, who also led a popular page debunking hoaxes, has
proclaimed
he is leaving the workplace because of an”unprofessional interference in strategic communication by the Slovak Ministry of the Interior, due to which it is not possible to ensure the defence capability of the Slovak Republic against hybrid threats at the qualitative level as before.”

Read also: Slovakia 's defense minister informs Stoltenberg of halt to arms shipments to Ukrain

Daniel Milo, director of the Interior Ministry's Centre for Combating Hybrid Threats, has also resigned,
explaining
that he“cannot continue working in this field with the current composition of the government.” The centre was behind a recent report which tracked the influence of deepfakes on Slovak elections.

The new government has also not extended the contracts of the six officials working for the strategic communication department at the government office.

Robert Fico and the party's deputy chairman, Ľuboš Blaha, repeatedly use pro-Kremlin narratives, calling Ukrainians“fascists” and blaming the US for Russia's war against Ukraine. Culture Minister Martina Šimkovičová was also the face of TV Slovan, which is
listed
as a“site with questionable content”.

MENAFN24112023000193011044ID1107482625

Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.