On Tuesday 30 January at 11 a.m. at the Ateneo de Madrid, the Fundación Alternativas proposes the following discussion: Ukraine, Gaza, the world. Disinformation and censorship in foreign policy, with prominent Spanish analysts and journalists who have direct experience in various conflicts.
Disinformation, or “fake news”, has become a constant feature of today’s major armed conflicts and international relations. The wars in Ukraine and Gaza, or in the Sahel, are examples of far-reaching global trends.
But the phenomenon of disinformation in the West and in Europe is not limited to the sphere of social networks and populist regimes, but extends to many aspects – censorship, propaganda, cyberwarfare, manipulated digitalisation -, to different actors – both autocracies and democratic regimes – and to traditional media, both public and private.
For Spain and for Europe, timely and accurate information should be the basis of a healthy democracy and also of a foreign policy that is accountable to citizens. Therefore, we need to reflect on the different aspects that lead to disinformation in conflicts, in order to be able to better combat it.
The programme is as follows: at 11 a.m. the first discussion will take place, entitled War in Ukraine: disinformation and censorship, with the participation of Patricia Simón, writer and journalist; María Eulate, journalist for Radio Nacional España, and Íñigo Sáenz de Ugarte, deputy director of eldiario.es. And at 12 noon, it will be the turn of the discussion on the Gaza War and global trends in disinformation, with Olga Rodríguez, writer and journalist; Ignacio Álvarez-Ossorio, professor at the Complutense University of Madrid, and Juan Zafra, director of Club Abierto de Editores (Open Publishers’ Club). Vicente Palacio, director of Foreign Policy at Fundación Alternativas, will moderate the event. Registration is required at this link. The event can be viewed online on the Foundation’s YouTube channel.
