“I’VE BEEN DISINFORMED!”

The video was the grand finish of the #TruthHurts campaign focused on the issue of disinformation in the modern age, which has been running since last fall.

“Check all of your information sources! And don’t believe everything you see. Because the truth sometimes hurts...” These are the last words of the fake Andrej Babiš, as his features disappear, and he transforms back into the actor and imitator Petr Jablonský.

Then it’s my turn: “The time when we’ll be able to make a video like that on our smartphones is coming near. We won’t need any complex preparations or demanding post-production. It is therefore high time to brace ourselves for a world in which anything we see on our screens might not be what it seems.”

Why did we even make a video like that and what motivated me to do it?

One of the goals of our campaign was to present the newest technological developments in the field of disinformation campaigns to the Czech public, ideally before they manage to flood the public space. It’s a sort of writing on the wall, to show that disinformers are not resting on their laurels. While we’re uncovering their algorithms for spreading tests or email chains, they are developing new and more sophisticated ways to manipulate their audiences.

Our goal is to make people more cautious when consuming information. I want to make sure that Czechs stop being easy prey for local and foreign disinformation campaigns. Our study Očima odborníků (Through the Eyes of Experts) shows that they have been growing in number and efficiency since at least 2014. A society that consciously works on its resilience against disinformation is the foundation of a strong democracy.