Disinformation research and policy responses in the Balkans

Citizen susceptibility to conspiracies and misinformation in the Balkans is among the worst in Europe, as shown in a 2020 study by GLOBSEC. The problem is exacerbated by the lack of independently certified, established fact-checkers in Bulgaria, and until very recently in Romania too.
This motivated our institute to establish a new research priority area dedicated to studying online disinformation in the Balkans and developing new AI methods for large-scale disinformation analysis in English, Bulgarian and other Balkan languages.

Coordinator of the GATE activities: Prof. Sylvia Ilieva