“Fight fake news – strengthen democracy” – that was the motto under which the Ministry of the Interior held a prevention summit on Monday. “The decisive joint action against fake news and deepfakes means above all the protection of our democracy,” emphasized Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) in his opening speech. According to DSN director Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, the aim of the summit was to work with experts to “identify problem areas and take appropriate action”.
“Disinformation and fake news will greatly challenge our democracy and especially the security authorities in the future,” Karner said at the beginning of the Palais Wertheim in Vienna. The corona pandemic and the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine have led to “extreme dynamics in disinformation”. “Resolute action against fake news and deepfakes mainly means protecting our democracy.”
Increased number of autocracies
The minister also referred to the Transformation Index (BTI), which records more autocratic than democratic states for the first time since 2004. Of the 137 countries surveyed, only 67 are still democracies and the number of autocracies has risen to 70.
Technical innovations make preventive work more difficult
Led by the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence (DSN), approximately 150 participants from various ministries, science, civil society organizations and international partners discussed the extent to which fake news, disinformation and conspiracy theories pose challenges for the protection of the constitution, the ministry said afterwards. Haijawi-Pirchner referred to the “extensive anonymity on the Internet combined with technical innovations”. This complicates the preventive and repressive activities of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
“Digital networking and the rapid spread of extremist content create a rich breeding ground for extremism. In order to effectively face these challenges, the prevention of extremism in the DSN was upgraded and de-radicalization work was initiated in all areas of constitutional protection,” says the DSN Director. As a result, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution acts as an “early warning system to protect the population against threats relevant to the Constitution”. For the DSN, prevention means “generating, sharing and transferring knowledge” to prevent extremism and radicalisation.
Russia invests hundreds of millions of euros in opinion manipulation
One of the guest speakers – Patrick Sensburg from the University of Police and Public Administration in North Rhine-Westphalia – discussed how certain (political) actors or interest groups try to manipulate public opinion in a targeted manner. For example, according to U.S. intelligence agencies, Russia has secretly paid more than $300 million to foreign political parties and candidates in more than two dozen countries since 2014 to influence local politics, Sensburg said.
The Ministry of the Interior stressed that the exchange with science and research is particularly important and should be further strengthened. In that context, a new concept for a “board of experts” for the intelligence service was presented on Monday. The task of this scientific body is “to identify at an early stage imminent risks and dangers arising from possible (geo)political, (geo)economic, social, technological and similar developments that may be relevant to the work of the intelligence service”, according to to the internal service.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
