Bulgaria activates EU system to combat disinformation, foreign interference in April elections
Bulgaria has activated the alert system in the European Union’s Digital Services Act ahead of the country’s April 19 early parliamentary elections, a spokesperson for the European Commission (EC) confirmed at a briefing on March 24.
The system will remain active up to one week after the elections have taken place, the spokesperson said.
The Digital Services Act aims to combat illegal and harmful online activities, including the dissemination of disinformation.
The EC spokesperson said that the toolbox in the act could be used to support any election in the EU, with the one objective only, “that citizens can make informed and neutral decisions in advance of an election”.
On March 23, the Foreign Ministry said that on the orders of caretaker minister Nadezhda Neynski, a temporary coordination mechanism had been set up to counter disinformation, combat hybrid threats and maintain information resilience, in connection with the expected intensification of disinformation campaigns and manipulation of foreign policy information ahead of the April elections.
Coordination of the institutional communication response will be carried out, planning and conducting targeted strategic communications, coordination in interaction with international partners, as well as with EU and Nato structures, the Foreign Ministry said.
Within the framework of the work of the unit, cooperation will also be carried out with civil society organisations and academia, the ministry said.
(Photo: Bulgaria’s Interior Ministry)
