NATIONAL SECURITY AND DISINFORMATION CAMPAIGNS: THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA, BUSINESS AND CRISIS MANAGEMENT’ CONFERENCE

On 11 October, Javier Zarzalejos MEP took part in the conference ‘National security and disinformation campaigns: the role of the media, companies and crisis management’, organised by the Unión de Televisiones Comerciales en Abierto (UTECA) and the Asociación de Directivos de Comunicación, Dircom.

The event, held at the European Parliament Office in Spain, addressed the impact of foreign interference in National Security through carefully orchestrated and prolonged disinformation campaigns and what the media and companies can do in the fight against disinformation.

Zarzalejos participated together with Jesús Presa, Indra’s Director of Communication and Marketing; Montserrat García, Senior Advisor for the HR/VP and the European External Action Service, and Alejandro González, Technical Advisor of the Department of National Security, moderated by Félix Arteaga, Senior Researcher at the Elcano Royal Institute, in the round table ‘Crisis management in the face of the challenge of disinformation campaigns’.

During his speech, he referred to disinformation as a strategy in a time of confrontation. He also spoke of the increased impact of disinformation thanks to technological development: ‘There have always been hoaxes, but we are facing a quantitatively and qualitatively very different situation due to technological progress itself, which is adding new tools. Technology allows a very detailed and skilful analysis of our own psychological biases which multiplies the impact of hoaxes.

He said that disinformation is not an isolated event but an ongoing phenomenon and insisted on the need for media literacy and education. ‘The disconnection of society from information is increasing, but this can be a prelude to society itself increasingly looking for more reliable sources’.