In 2021, IRI’s Beacon project supported initiative of the Center for Free Elections and Democracy (Serbia) contributing to the suppression of disinformation in the Serbian and regional public space. Research activities included a public opinion poll sounding perception of international actors and media content analysis of 11 Serbian mainstream online media and their coverage of international actors.
Traditional mass media and, increasingly, online portals and social networks have made information more accessible than ever before. However, misinformation and disinformation employ the same channels to spread throughout the information ecosystem. In some cases, (mis)information is banal, trivial and spontaneous. On the other hand, a trend in rising are systematic disinformation campaigns with various, often political or ideological aims. Although it is a global phenomenon, each region has its specific context and features as well as disinformation channels.
Two countries that citizens of Serbia perceive as Serbia's greatest friends are Russia and China. On the other hand, support for the European integration process is relatively small, while the influence of the United States on Serbia over the years is generally perceived as negative, although a research shows that relations between US and Serbia are improving.
Serbians are exceptionally interested in international relations and the country’s foreign relations. As many as 65 percent of those polled reported finding out about these issues from television; an additional one-third did so using online news sources, and a final 16 percent relied on social media. The choice of preferred media outlet for accessing foreign policy information depended on educational attainment, age, region, and place of residence.
This paper introduces the available Facebook data to about the presence and prominence of hostile narratives that may have impacted Lithuania’s vaccination efforts. To do this a sample of significant public Facebook pages relevant to Lithuania were analysed to identify potential disinformation narratives that are more likely to be relevant to the Polish ethnic minority in Lithuania.