Today, the Centre for European Perspective is launching a new publication, »The Mirage of Truth: Complexities and Challenges of Disinformation in the Western Balkans«, in the scope of the Strengthening Societal Resilience and Countering Foreign-Perpetrated Disinformation in 6 Western Balkan Countries project.

The publication is the last activity upon the conclusion of this project as of June 30th, 2024. It touches upon the following topics: governments’ capacities to tackle disinformation, legislative venues for counter-disinformation tactics, regulation of the digital space, adaptations to education curricula, and possibilities and limits to whole-of-society cooperation mechanisms.

Disinformation is about intent. More specifically, intent to manipulate. Information is not accidentally skewed; the context is not taken out of the equation by chance. The source of disinformation carefully tailors the product following its aims and targets. It is a long-term, coordinated action seeking to undermine another society’s values, cohesion and institutions. In other words, disinformation is not a phenomenon – it is a threat, and even more, a security threat. It is a direct manifestation of foreign interference in domestic affairs, and it should be treated as such. The easiest and most vulnerable targets of disinformation are countries still developing their democratic and economic capacities with a recent history of conflict, like the Western Balkans. Disinformation that targets this region is a threat to the idea of Europe and we must, and we will resist – together.

The publication does not pretend to offer answers or an overview of all the challenges each Western Balkan country is struggling with. However, it does encourage future researchers and practitioners to think about the issue more comprehensively and to consider how disinformation affects the entire societal ecosystem, from security and foreign policy to governance, media, and education. Moreover, it also urges calls for an expansion of the comparative perspectives for which, at this time, we lacked sufficient space.

We would like to thank the following authors for their contribution to the publication: Kristina Voko (BIRN Albania), Vuk Vučetić (University of East Sarajevo), Kreshnik Gashi (Kallxo.com and Birn Kosovo), Marko Banović (Digital Forensic Centre / Digitalni forenzički centar – DFC), Bardhyl Jashari (Metamorphosis Foundation) & Tijana Femić (Novi Sad School of Journalism).

As the project concludes, our commitment to this cause remains unwavering. We will continue our efforts in this area, recognizing that change is only possible with consistency. It would be a disservice to the four years of hard work not to carry it forward in other ways.

Read the publication HERE.