site.btaDisinformation in Focus of Discussion Panel at EU Meets Balkans Forum

Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) Director General Kiril Valchev told The EU Meets the Balkans Forum in Sofia on Tuesday that information is the only way to fight disinformation. "The real response to fake news is to create more sources of reliable information," said Valchev, who moderated one of the forum's discussion panels, "Disinformation in the Time of Crisis".

The EU Meets the Balkans Forum brought together European politicians and experts to discuss ways to enhance regional cooperation and integration in the EU.

Valchev argued that access to information should be free. According to him, Europe has made a huge mistake by "locking up and requiring payment" for the reliable information from its news agencies. "Bulgaria is a good example of change in this respect," he said. Under a resolution of the country's National Assembly, adopted unanimously a year ago, BTA provides its content free of charge, Valchev noted.

"Balkan news agencies are ahead of Balkan politicians," the BTA chief said. In September, Sofia will host the 30th installment of a forum of news agencies of the Balkan countries. The big idea to be discussed at the forum is the proposed creation of a Balkan News Room to facilitate information sharing among Balkan news agencies. "We already have direct news exchange agreements with half of the other Balkan countries. Every day, we exchange one news story with each of the other agencies to help us navigate through the ocean of news." Valchev noted that navigating through the news feed is a challenge, and the media have a major role to play in helping people overcome it.

Vice Admiral Mitko Petev, Bulgarian Military Representative to the NATO Military Committee and the EU Military Committee, said during the discussion that the information environment is a battlefield. Warfare involves the use of disinformation, Petev added. "Disinformation can weaken a nation's powers of resistance. A country can give up combat action if it sees itself as weak," he said.

Petev noted that disinformation has been used as a weapon on very many occasions throughout history but nowadays its impact is far greater due to the electronic media, including the social media.

Peter Horrocks, former director of the BBC World Service Group, said that disinformation helped start the war in Ukraine. According to Horrocks, information warfare is even more important nowadays than it was at the height of the Cold War. He urged national governments and the EU to consider having an independent regulator and training journalists to the highest standards of the profession.

Horrocks blamed the Ukraine war partly on the social media, which, he said, can play a very dangerous role. Discussing the Balkans, he pointed to the need to make sure that social media platforms do not create circumstances which are conducive to conflicts. It may be necessary to consider limiting the freedom of speech for those who use abusive language, the expert suggested.