Bulgaria to set up unit to deal with false information on social media
Bulgaria to set up unit to deal with false information on social media

Sofia, Bulgaria: The E-government Ministry of Bulgaria will set up a new analytical unit which will be keeping an eye on the media content and other social networks to filter fake news and misinformation. However, the unit will not be able to block the content. 

The information was shared by the E-government Minister Bozhidar Bozhanov during the Questioning time in the Bulgarian Parliament on May 20, 2022.  

According to the Minister, the body will not have regulatory powers but will be making reports, adding that “There is nobody in the state that is explicitly charged with the policy of protection against hybrid threats, including targeted misinformation. To stop any attempts at misinterpretation, let me point out that we are guided by one basic principle – neither a government nor any large corporation should decide what is true and what is not, nor should it have the power to block something simply because it has decided to“.   

Following the above statement, the Minister then underscored, “These trolls are often people working from home. They are paid for a comment or a published article.On command, they share this ”news” in certain groups, which are indicated by the coordinating troll. This, in turn, leads to an algorithmic increase in the spread of these publications and accordingly it would be shown to more people”.  

This week only, the Minister paid a visit to Brussels, where during his talks with the dignitaries of the EU, he outlined and discussed the battle against misinformation, calling it a very significant issue which should be dealt with immediately.  

“There must be transparency in the algorithms so that every user knows why they are offered the relevant content”, in context to his above statement, the Minister added.

In his view, the Eastern European countries are “disproportionately” facing the impacts of the false information, which are likely to be originated from the Kremlin