• Copasir's alarm: "Against our country viral fake news about the coronavirus epidemic"

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10 June 2020Italy is among the countries "most affected" by disinformation in the Covid-19 pandemic. The Vice-President of the European Commission, Věra Jourová, said this by presenting the communication on the fight against disinformation in a video videoconference in Brussels. "Yes - replies to journalists - Italy is among the" most affected countries, even if "I don't have solid data with me. But it must be considered that disinformation flourishes on fear and, logically, the most affected countries are the easiest targets . the Italians have had to fight hard against the virus and misinformation playing with these factors, the most affected and vulnerable society. "   

Russia and China targeted
The main foreign disinformation actors, said the vice president at the press conference, "are Russia and China, we have enough evidence to be able to make such a statement," adding that "fighting disinformation does not mean censoring the wrong information. Those who are those responsible for the matter in question must have a proactive attitude and spread true facts, defend reliable information ".

Fake news and vaccine
Jourová predicted that, in relation to the pandemic, "there will also be a disinformation campaign on the vaccine", to which also "the medical environment must react", "the private sector will have to put its weapons into play and use them" .

The vice president added that Google "has blocked and removed over 80 million coronavirus-related advertisements globally." The European Commission and High Representative Josep Borrell presented their initiatives in the fight against disinformation about the coronavirus pandemic in Brussels and proposed the way forward.

Responsibility for platforms
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the Commission, spoke a few hours earlier on the subject: "We are working with online platforms and we encourage them to strengthen their action against disinformation about coronavirus. The platforms facilitate the access to reliable sources, such as public health authorities, and downgrade or even remove harmful content and misleading advertisements, but there is still more to be done. Social media - President von der Leyen wrote on social networks - must share the data with the community of fact checkers, so that together we can dismantle these dangerous items. "

no cold war
" we're not launching any campaign against China, we work for some time on disinformation, "this" also contained Chinese sources, but does not it is about acting against China. And I don't want to embark on a type of cold war against China, yesterday in the long conversation with the
Chinese foreign minister I used exactly these words: we don't want any cold war against China, "said the High Representative for Foreign Policy of the European Union, Josep Borrell.

The Joint Proposals
The communication is the result of assessments initiated by the Commission in March 2020. The coronavirus pandemic was accompanied by a massive wave of false or misleading information, including attempts by foreign subjects to influence citizens and public debates in the EU and the joint communication proposes concrete action that can be started quickly. 

"Disinformation in the time of the coronavirus can kill - said Borrell - We have a duty to protect our citizens making them aware of the dissemination of false information and denouncing those responsible for such practices. 

"" To fight kings against disinformation - Jourová said - we must mobilize all stakeholders, from digital platforms to public authorities, and support fact-checkers and independent media. Despite taking positive steps during the pandemic, digital platforms need to step up their efforts. Our actions have deep roots in fundamental rights, in particular the freedom of expression and information ". 

#Disinformation waves have hit Europe during #Coronavirus. They harm not only the health of our democracies, but also of our citizens. To fight them, we need to mobilize all relevant players from fact-checkers, researchers to online platforms and authorities. # EUvsDisinfo pic.twitter.com/aTWV2SYXSz

- Věra Jourová (@VeraJourova) June 10, 2020