From Vaccination to War: Slovak Disinformation Outlets Quick to Shift the Conversation

Slovaks have long had the dubious distinction of being the most prone in Europe to believe in conspiracy theories and disinformation, which might explain the prevalence of such sites targeting the Slovak information space.

Spurred by warnings from activists and the Slovak Information Service (SIS), the country's main intelligence service, at the outset of the war in Ukraine the Slovak parliament passed a law that allows the authorities to block disinformation websites temporarily. And in the first month of Russia's invasion, the National Security Authority made four such websites inaccessible.

The first to be turned off was Hlavné Správy. Shortly after, one of its contributors, Bohuš Garbár, was charged with conducting espionage activities for Russia.

However, other websites and Facebook profiles, many of which in the past have spread disinformation about COVID-19, are still operating and spreading disinformation on the war in Slovakia's eastern neighbour.

"The same people who invested time and energy into spreading hoaxes and disinformation about COVID and the pandemic a few weeks ago, today denigrate [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky, admire [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and approve of the aberrant Russian invasion of Ukraine," Tomáš Kriššák, an expert on disinformation who works with Gerulata Technologies, tells The Slovak Spectator.

Observers of the disinformation scene agree that many such Facebook profiles and sites were not created only when the pandemic hit, but rather had been operating for some time, feeding on the same topics that were also viral in the mainstream media.

The Slovak police's Facebook page targeting disinformation. Image: Facebook screenshot 'Switching the points'