site.btae-Government Minister Bozhanov in Davos: Tech Giants Need to Realize their Responbility for Spreading Russian Propaganda

Bulgaria's e-Government Minister Bozhidar Bozhanov told the Davos World Economic Forum that the tech giants need to realize their responsibility in the digital sphere and recognize their impact on society. This is particularly relevant in the context of the war in Ukraine and Russia's disinformation campaigns, the press office of the Democratic Bulgaria party quoted Bozhanov as saying.

He participated in the Information Security and Digital Recovery in Modern Conditions panel at Ukraine House Davos.

Bulgaria is part of Eastern Europe and Russia's influence on it has been strong for a long time, said Bozhanov, adding that while attacking Ukraine, Russia has also attacked the whole of Eastern Europe through disinformation campaigns.

Russia is using European values like the freedom of speech to undermine the freedom of speech and the other European values. The social networks are key to this, said Bozhanov.

Europe is aware of the methods of Russian propaganda in the digital world. Troll factories promote anonymous websites spreading the Kremlin's narratives. At the same time, European governments cannot simply block a website or a group, he said. "We have to act smart. We need to break this mechanism, not block the information itself - governments should not determine what is right or wrong."

He said Bulgaria's proposal to Brussels is to regulate social network algorithms that amplify troll attacks. 

"We have very precise proposals for the technical implementation, we have discussed them with representatives of social networks and with Brussels," Bozhanov said.

"The tech giants need to realize their responsibility in the digital sphere, and recognize that they have an impact on our societies. However, we can't just expect them to challenge their own business models. In this case, as always, regulation is needed and it needs to be smart and focused," Bozhanov said.