Bulgarian School of Politics (BSoP) and “Educational Horizons” Foundation – Shumen developed an analysis of the information environment in Shumen District. The study is part of the “3D – Digitalization, Disinformation, Democracy” initiative and includes media monitoring, content analysis, an online survey and focus groups.
The survey, conducted in the fall of this year, shows that nearly 44% of residents of the region believe that disinformation is a permanent or occasionally encountered problem. Facebook is cited as the main channel for spreading false content – over 85% of respondents believe that disinformation is most often encountered there. It is followed by TikTok (51%) and YouTube (30.4%).
Most often, disinformation is associated with topics such as international conflicts (54.4%), national politics and elections (53.4%), as well as local politics and elections (44.7%). The data shows that political and crisis situations are most vulnerable to manipulation and often become “fuel” for fake news. According to 51% of the participants, artificial intelligence can also be used to create fake content.
As the main measure against disinformation, 32% of the respondents point to education. In second place are fact-checking platforms (24.5%), and 18.6% emphasize ethical standards in journalism and transparency of media ownership. Only 17.6% support state regulation.
You can read the entire analysis here.
The analysis was developed by the Bulgarian School of Politics “Dimitry Panitza” and the “Educational Horizons” Foundation – Shumen within the framework of the “3D – Digitalization, Disinformation, Democracy” initiative, funded by the European Union and the Workshop for Civic Initiatives Foundation.