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Czech Specialist Unit to Fight Fake News, Propaganda Allegedly Spread by Russia

The Czech authorities are going to launch a specialist unit that will be aimed to fight “fake news” and to prevent interference into the October general elections as the Czech authorities considered that the level of online disinformation was currently rising.

The Czech authorities intend to fight “fake news” with a specialist unit amid growing fears over increasing propaganda allegedly linked to Russia, media said Wednesday.

According to The Guardian, the Center Against Terrorism and Hybrid Threats would be operating since January 1 and would be aimed at preventing interference into the October general elections as the Czech authorities considered that the level of online disinformation was currently rising.

Prague considered that Russia was behind inaccurate reports and fake news, though no proof was ever provided.

“The key goal of Russian propaganda in the Czech Republic is to sow doubts into the minds of the people that democracy is the best system to organise a country, to build negative images of the European Union and Nato, and [to] discourage people from participation in the democratic processes,” Tomas Prouza, the Czech government’s state secretary for European affairs, was quoted as saying by the Guardian.

The specialists are set to detect misinformation, counter it via a dedicated Twitter account and a special section of the Interior Ministry website.

The European authorities have repeatedly accused Moscow of propaganda, while Russia denies the accusations.

In November, in particular, the European Parliament voted in favor of a resolution on countering Russian media. The European parliament’s resolution said that Sputnik and RT posed a danger to European unity and called for extra European Commission funding for counterpropaganda projects.

Read more: https://sputniknews.com/europe/201612281049067878-russia-czech-republic/

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