A few days ago, it was announced that the Spanish government had activated a unit to combat hybrid threats , cyberattacks, and disinformation. This was initially planned for the European elections (which will be followed by regional and local elections) on May 26th. However, its creation was decided to be brought forward to the scenario outlined by the general elections on April 28th.
This highlights the extent to which information manipulation is perceived as a threat to national security, an element that was already recognized when, for the first time in 2017, disinformation campaigns were included in the National Security Strategy as part of "hybrid warfare." That was over a year ago, but by then, numerous international projects were already underway to investigate , identify, and expose these types of campaigns.
Social platforms have proven to be an effective tool for spreading buy phone number list fake news, polarizing opinions, and promoting propaganda, capable of influencing electoral outcomes as varied as the US presidential campaign won by Trump, the referendum that approved Brexit in the United Kingdom, or, more recently, Jair Bolsonaro's victory in Brazil. Social media is not only social but also political.
The European Parliament elections in May of this year have been in the spotlight for several months now. In October 2018, major companies (including Facebook, Twitter, Google, and YouTube) signed a Code of Practice with the European Commission in which they pledged to redouble their efforts against fake news . However, it has become clear that their intentions are not enough : the European Commission has required that, starting January 1, 2019, and at least until the May elections, major platforms must report monthly to Brussels on the measures taken against fake news . After her first meeting on January 29, the Commissioner for Digital Society and Economy, Mariya Gabriel, insisted that much work remains to be done and called for greater efforts to combat disinformation and ensure transparency in propaganda.
Not surprisingly, the European Union's Eurobarometer, in December 2018, found that 83% of European citizens consider fake news to be a real threat to democracy , while 73% are concerned about digital disinformation campaigns in pre-election periods.
Distrust is rife.
And Spain is no exception.
According to the report " Disinformation in Cyberspace, " published in February 2019 by the National Cryptologic Center, Spain suffers no fewer than three critically or very high-risk cyberattacks against the public sector and strategic companies every day. "Some of these offensive actions originate primarily in other states whose purpose is to weaken and compromise Spain's economic, technological, and political capacity," the report states, also warning: "However, increasingly, they aim to disrupt the functioning of one of the main elements of the development of a liberal democracy and a modern nation-state: public opinion."
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