Czech Republic creates anti-fake news unit

MANILA, Philippines – The Czech Republic government stepped up the fight against fake news by creating a unit to monitor and inform the public of malicious articles and posts.

The Centre Against Terrorism and Hybrid Threats began operations in Prague this month, starting with 20 agents. Their main focus has been to monitor pro-Russia websites in the Czech language.

Czech officials believe certain propaganda websites allegedly backed by Russia are seeking to spread falsehoods.

“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 organize a country, to build negative images of the European Union and NATO, and [to] discourage people from participation in the democratic processes,” Tomáš Prouza, the Czech government’s state secretary for European affairs, told The Guardian.

Fact-checking, flagging

The Centre’s mandate is to comb through the internet and social media in search of news for fact-checking. False reports are then flagged to the public on a dedicated Twitter account.

According to the interior ministry, the Centre:

• will neither be a new law enforcement agency nor an intelligence service
• will inform about serious cases of disinformation and provide expert opinions for the public and for government institutions
• will work primarily with open sources available to all and will openly communicate with civil society, the media, and other subjects
• will not force the “truth” on anyone, or censor media content
• will not lock anyone up, interrogate anyone, or lead any proceedings with anyone
• will not spread any kind of propaganda, but only expertise relating to the field of internal security

There are concerns that the newly formed unit will back censorship or spying, reported The Guardian.

But Ivana Smolenova, a fellow at the Prague Security Studies Institute, told the Washington Post: “We have no ability or political will to close all these websites… The only thing we can do is work on our self-defense.”

European elections

The creation of the Czech unit as well as several efforts to stifle the spread of fake news in other countries come amid upcoming elections in several European nations.

In December 2016, Germany proposed a bill that could see companies like Facebook fined up to €500,000 ($519,925) per fake news post.

Many fear that disinformation could greatly affect the outcome of key elections and potentially lead to the dissolution of the European Union.

“[Russian President Vladimir Putin] is looking to break Europe up into elementary member states that compete with each other for Russian resources and influence. The risk is great,” said Ivan Gabal, deputy chairman of the Czech parliamentary defense committee, in a report by The Guardian.

Russian interference

These fears of growing Russian influence are in tandem with American officials formally accusing the Russian government, in October 2016, of trying to “interfere” with the US presidential election.

A report from the Czech Security Information Service (BIS) stated that, in 2015, Russia played a role in influencing the Czech people’s opinions on Syria and Ukraine.

Some of the tactics used to manipulate public opinion included weakening the Czech audience’s “will for resistance or confrontation” as well as inciting inter-societal and inter-political tensions in the country, the report said.

Fake news on social media

Analysis in November 2016 by BuzzFeed News revealed that fake election news was more viral than real stories on Facebook during the final months of the US presidential campaign. (READ: Zuckerberg sure fake news on Facebook didn’t sway US election)

The Philippine Facebook community also saw its fair share of fake news stories in 2016. (READ: Fake accounts, manufactured reality on social media)

Facebook has been criticized for failing to prevent the spread of fake news. In Manila, for instance, at least 3 senators have sought a probe into fake news and called for tough measures against websites that contain false, malicious stories.

Following various complaints, Facebook earlier announced the launch of tools users can access to aid in the fight against the spread of hoaxes and fake news. – Rappler.com

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