Szakács and Bognár Author EP study on Disinformation and Minorities

CMDS Fellow and Outreach Coordinator Judit Szakács and Senior Program Officer and Researcher Éva Bognár authored a study for the European Parliament’s INGE Committee on the impact of foreign disinformation campaigns about minorities.

The analysis, commissioned by the European Parliament’s Special Committee on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the European Union, including Disinformation (INGE) explores the impact of disinformation activity originated or amplified from abroad targeting minorities in the EU in 2018-2021.

While disinformation has become all-pervasive, it can be considered as yet another tool being used to target vulnerable groups in society. Looking at recent disinformation campaigns that ethnic, religious and cultural minorities have been subjected to, the study finds both direct and indirect links between disinformation and fundamental rights, such as human dignity or physical and mental integrity, along with core European values, including equality, the rule of law and solidarity.

The Roma are found to be victims of domestic disinformation, while migrants and the Jewish community appear to be targeted by the Kremlin, Szakács and Bognár write. The research found that disinformation by foreign and domestic actors as well as disinformation campaigns and organic content are increasingly merging, rendering measures to stop foreign disinformation more difficult.