Commentary
Politics
EU Should Enlarge, Even Out of Despair – COMMENTARY
3 October 2024
As alarming as disinformation and conspiracy theories are, perhaps they represent a much-needed wake-up call for urgent systematic action.
The COVID-19 pandemic is typically discussed as an undeniable global catastrophe. However, this cataclysm may raise the importance of addressing the deployment of disinformation and conspiracy theories through influence operations, whose ongoing impact threatens national and international interests worldwide.
There is virtually no sphere immune from the disruptive impact of information operations. The amount of disinformation and conspiracy theories accompanying the COVID-19 pandemic has made this very clear.
Experts monitoring disinformation and influence operations have warned about the implications of this phenomenon for years, particularly in relation to foreign state actors. These use influence operations as a means for asymmetric warfare, in order to manipulate populations of the target state.