For a second consecutive year, Ontotext partnered with the GATE Institute and Bulgarian technology companies Identrics and Sensika to co-host the Technologies Against Disinformation 2.0 conference. The conference aimed to provide a fresh perspective on information warfare in the digital realm, leveraging the latest advancements in technologies and methodologies for identifying disinformation processes.
The conference kicked off with a panel discussion featuring Todor Tagarev, the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Bulgaria, and Bozhidar Bozhanov, Chairman of the Committee on Electronic Governance and Information Technologies in the National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria. They delved into the scales of disinformation processes and the gravity of the impacts that propagandistic practices can have.
Disinformation serves as just one of the tools in hybrid warfare. While warfare has historically been hybrid, relying primarily on military power, the landscape is shifting with the widespread integration of information and communication technologies, as well as mass media – noted Minister Tagarev.
He illustrated this point with the example of the conflict between Hamas and Israel, where “the military instrument now plays a subordinate role, with both sides strategically acting to influence public opinion in their respective interests.”
At the same time, Bozhidar Bozanov suggested that effective counteraction to disinformation might lie in psychological spheres and enhanced public educational initiatives.
The event unfolded in two parts, with the first segment dedicated to analyzing the methodologies at the core of manipulative content dissemination.
The interview with Todor Tagarev, the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Bulgaria, and Bozhidar Bozanov, Chairman of the Committee on Electronic Governance and Information Technologies in the National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria (in Bulgarian)
Later in the event, our partners from the EU-funded project Bulgarian-Romanian Observatory of Digital Media (BROD), GATE Institute, and the Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD) took part in the first panel. Dr. Todor Galev from CSD shared insights into the monetization of disinformation in Bulgaria, while Dr. Keith Peter Kiely from GATE delivered a study on Bulgarian disinformation discourses about the euro, focusing on calls for a referendum.
Eneya Georgieva, Manager Products Against Disinformation at Ontotext, presenting in the second panel
In the second panel, Eneya Georgieva presented Ontotext’s solutions in the field and discussed BROD’s efforts to tackle disinformation in a panel led by Nikola Tulechki, a data scientist at Ontotext.
The second panel of the event, led by Nikola Tulechki. The second presentation in it is from Eneya Georgieva regarding Ontotext (in Bulgarian)
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This project is co-funded by the European Union’s Digital Europe programme under grant agreement No 101083730. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
For more information, contact Doug Kimball, Chief Marketing Officer at Ontotext