DISINFORMATION

Trump is another victim of progressive hate, according to the disinformers. NATO's Ukraine supposedly guarantees World War III

Infosecurity.sk presents an overview of disinformation trends that have been on the rise in the last two weeks:

• Slovak disinformation ecosystem was parasitic on the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. In particular, actors from the government coalition tried to create false analogies between the attempted assassination of the US ex-president and the Slovak prime minister. They used the situation to further demonise liberalism and progressivism, which, thanks to the disinformation agents, artificially becomes the arch-enemy of the Slovak public.
• In particular, efforts to create a deadly image in which Donald Trump and Robert Fico are the victims of media hatred and a global political conspiracy have dominated. According to the disinformers, the motives may be multiple - from peace efforts in Ukraine, to Russophobia, to the fight for traditional values.
• The disinformation ecosystem has reacted very critically to the vote to re-elect Ursula von der Leyen as President of the European Commission. Misleading narratives have been spread about her efforts to militarise Europe and accelerate the conflict with Russia.
• The EU's reaffirmation of its support for Ukraine was also a stumbling block, as was the statement about its military support and possible future entry into NATO after the Washington summit. These developments earned not only criticism from the disinformation agents, but also lies about the alleged escalation and outbreak of World War III.

False analogies between Trump and Fico

The disinformation ecosystem continued to shape the public enemy in the form of liberalism and progressivism. Actors have exploited the assassination attempt on former U.S. President Donald Trump for their aims of demonising the media and the opposition.

Including members of the governing coalition, they have sought, above all, to create a parallel with 15 May 2024, when Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot multiple times by an assassin in Handlova.

Both incidents should be seen largely as the result of the polarisation of societies - in both cases it was those who then faced the attack who were involved in creating divisions and a toxic atmosphere. Disinformation and hate attacks have also helped. Today, both politicians are presented as martyrs. They were supposed to have survived an unjust manhunt and a global political conspiracy that allegedly came about because of their related views on the war in Ukraine.

The disinformation actors in particular have tried to sell the idea that the assassination attempts are "due" to the two politicians' peaceful vision, which is not to the liking of progressives. Whether one disguises the politicians or the media under the label, they supposedly sought to liquidate their political opponents through a campaign of incitement and encouraging violence. Essentially, this is the narrative of hateful and bloodthirsty liberals that the disinformationists have cleverly updated and continue to scare their audience with. As part of their rhetoric, they have also sought to cast doubt on the criminal charges faced by both the US ex-President and the Slovak prime minister.

Robert Fico continuously tried to induce a conspiratorial atmosphere in several posts. With words about a "copy-cat scenario" or statements about the progressive media and their political servants who supposedly "do not respect the right to a different opinion", Fico tries to present himself as a victim of media hatred or a political conspiracy. By scenario, he means "the abuse of criminal law to liquidate a political opponent" and the subsequent incitement of "supporters to do a desperate act" (of assassinating a political opponent).

However, it is precisely this rhetoric of the prime minister that leads to a polarisation of society - on the one hand he questions the rule of law and on the other he further rails against the media. He has propagated similar narratives in other posts as well. He was followed, for example, by Tibor Gašpar, who in his post talked about liberal extremism spreading hatred in the media and on the streets.

The narrative of hatred was also key for the post of MEP Ľuboš Blaha (SMER-SSD). In it, he referred to progressivism as terrorism and went on to say that "the hatred that led to the assassination attempt on Donald Trump is the result of the liberal hatred spawned by the Biden administration". Progressives supposedly couldn't defeat Trump politically, so they decided to reach for his life. The motive was supposed to be efforts to stop the war against Russia and fight against progressive values. Allegedly the same as in the case of Robert Fico. It is no coincidence that Blaha continuously uses the same conspiratorial labels in his posts and frightens with them. On the contrary, it is a harmful, yet pragmatic rhetoric, which the MEP uses to help establish a public enemy to blind his own voters. Zuzana Matejíčková, MP for SMER-SSD, continued in a similar vein - but added to the mix a reference to the growing tensions within the ranks of the globalists.

Members of the far-right Republika movement reacted similarly to the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. Marián Ďuriš, whose post we analyse in more detail below, also spoke about supposed motives in connection with the war in Ukraine. His party colleague Milan Mazurek, in turn, fully copied the rhetoric of the SMER-SSD party. According to the newly-elected MEP, acts of violence are led by "the media, which systematically upset society and bring chaos into our lives with lies".

The prime minister also continued his attacks on the democratic opposition, especially the Progressive Slovakia party. He continuously accuses the party of sabotaging Slovak interests, while trying to absolve himself of responsibility for the controversial amendment to the Criminal Code, which weakened the tools to fight corruption. Given that European Union funding would also be affected, there was also a threat for some time that EU funds would be stopped, to which the government responded with further amendments to the law.

In another post, Ľuboš Blaha identified liberalism with totalitarian ideology. He went on to accuse progressivism of militarism and Russophobia, which he constantly uses for the purpose of his pro-Russian audience. The MEP also likes to rely on manipulative portrayals of a dynamic in which progressivism stands exclusively against traditions and Slovak culture. According to Blaha, "progressivism is raping our national culture in the name of multicultural, transgender and militaristic experiments." In doing so, Blaha creates an image of an external threat against which he mobilises his own followers. The dynamics of progressivism in opposition to traditional values were also exploited in his post by Eduard Chmelár, a current advisor to Prime Minister Fico. In addition to fabrications about the extremist form of progressive ideology and the downplaying of gender issues, the dubious political analyst once again called for securing peace with Russia.

Since posts containing narratives about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump were among the dominant ones in the Slovak information space in the last two weeks, we also looked at them using the CrowdTangle analytical tool. We used it to analyse the most popular posts on Slovak Facebook that contained the keywords "Trump" or "assassination". Posts were then evaluated based on the total number of interactions (the sum of all reactions, comments, and shares).

The post with the most interactions on Facebook was published by Robert Fico. In it, the prime minister reacted to the assassination attempt on Donald Trump and compared it to 15 May 2024, when he was shot multiple times by an assailant in Handlová. According to Fico, the two cases are similar, it is supposed to be a "copy-cat scenario". He used the situation to further rail against the Slovak mainstream media - which he again manipulatively accused of spreading hatred and motivating similar assassinations. Ironically, he went on to assess that talk of "the need for reconciliation, appeasement and forgiveness" was to be expected . This only underscores the approach that Fico took after the assassination. He is ignoring the words even of his own coalition partners, who have at least called for reconciliation in public, and is openly advocating a witch-hunt.

The second post is an official statement by prime minister Fico, published on his official Facebook page by the SMER-SSD party. The post again contained rhetoric about the tried and tested scenario "to liquidate political opponents". The first step is said to be an attempt to abuse criminal law and to fabricate trials. Fico was thereby trying to call into question not only the legal proceedings that have been conducted against Donald Trump in recent months, but also the accusations linking the Slovak prime minister to corruption. The second step, according to the prime minister, is to be the smear campaign of the liberal and progressive media, which is said to be "goading its supporters into doing a desperate act". By seeking and presenting similar analogies, Fico seeks to reinforce his image as a martyr facing up to a kind of global political injustice. The basis of the rhetoric lies in the narrative that he, like Trump, is the victim of a conspiracy that aims to eliminate "traditional" leaders because of their views on Ukraine or progressivism.

The third post was published by Marián Ďuriš. A member of the far-right Republika movement hinted and theorised about the motives behind the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. Namely, he mentioned the pursuit of a peaceful end to the war in Ukraine, the nefarious media, and the "extremist ideology of the progressive left." Ďuriš thus framed the narratives that the disinformation scene operates with in this case. As in the case of Fico, Donald Trump is portrayed as a martyr who was supposed to be the victim of some kind of political conspiracy.

The next post in the list was published by György Gyimesi, who now is a member of the Alliance-Szövetség party. He added to Robert Fico's rhetoric that the assassination attempt on Trump was a copy of the events of 15 May 2024. However, he directly blamed progressives for this plot. In addition to reinforcing the image of the bogeyman, Gyimesi also sought to cast doubt on the criminal proceedings that had been brought against Donald Trump. This was also supposed to be a fabricated process by which the Democrats supposedly wanted to get rid of their political opponent. Such rhetoric can be considered highly damaging - it directly contradicts reality and encourages conspiratorial thinking that paints targets on the backs of political entities and the media. Regardless of whether we are talking about Slovakia or the US, the process of disinformation actors in portraying these issues is very similar. They shape a dynamic in which a heroic martyr (the victim) and a bloodthirsty political opposition (the bogeyman) stand opposite each other.

The last place belongs again to the post published by the SMER-SSD party. This time, it shared a video statement by the minister of defence Robert Kaliňák. The deputy chairman of the party reached for the same rhetorical weapons as the prime minister or other politicians mentioned above. Donald Trump was supposed to be the victim of "demonising political opponents and labelling them as non-democrats, dictators or outright modern-day Hitlers". Like Fico, the former US President was to be the target of a fabricated political process.

In the end, then, it seems that some kind of preconceived plan to eliminate political opponents was not followed by the attackers, but by their victims and allies, who are using these tragic events to scare the public and score political points. It is the rhetoric of the disinformation actors that sticks to the script - whether it is Donald Trump or Robert Fico, both are supposed to be the martyrs of a political conspiracy that is also supposed to exonerate them from their previous misdeeds. The liberal media or the progressive opposition are inevitably portrayed as the perpetrators of the mischief, which only reinforces their artificially crafted image of the enemy.

President von der Leyen and Ukraine in NATO - the latest disinformers' bogeymen

During the period under review, one of the main topics was the election of Ursula von der Leyen as President of the European Commission (EC). In general, von der Leyen, who was seeking re-election, was presented as a corrupt person and her re-election was interpreted as a victory for Russophobes and warmongers. One of the reasons for the attacks on her person has been the recent ruling by the EU General Court that the EC did not allow the public sufficient access to information in contracts for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines. Robert Fico used the ruling to argue against the election of von der Leyen.

The actual vote on Mrs von der Leyen's candidacy took place on 18 July. As a result, 401 MEPs voted for the new EC President, 284 voted against, 15 abstained and 7 ballots were invalid. Before the election, the candidate presented her political priorities for the next five years. Her priorities included issues relating to the fight against climate change, competitiveness and innovation and, last but not least, strengthening European security. Among other things, she proposed a European Democracy Shield to combat foreign manipulation of information and interference, and stressed that the EU's support for Ukraine remains unwavering.

Von der Leyen has become a target of disinformation primarily because of her support for Ukraine. Ľuboš Blaha (SMER-SSD) identified von der Leyen with "neoliberal and warlike Europe". He pointed out that the SMER-SSD MEPs voted against von der Leyen's re-election, which he documented with a joint photo published on the SMER-SDD's official Facebook page.

Von der Leyen was long and openly opposed by members of the far-right Republika movement. Its chairman, Milan Uhrík, who represents the party as a MEP, published a video of a speech by the Polish MEP Ewa Zajączkowska-Hernik from the Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) faction. In her speech, the MEP claimed that Von der Leyen is the face of economic decline, the green deal and climate madness, as well as the migration pact. Zajączkowska-Hernik presented the criticism of the new EC President as the alleged opinion of the majority of EU citizens.

Another important EU-related topic was Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's trip to Russia to meet with President Vladimir Putin. Orbán went on the foreign trip as an EU representative, which was subsequently strongly rejected by EU officials. The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, commented on the visit: "The European Council is clear on the matter: Russia is the aggressor, Ukraine is the victim. No discussions on Ukraine can take place without Ukraine". He also described Viktor Orbán's move as a political mistake.

Blaha described the EU's criticism of Orbán's actions as "anti-Russian, militaristic delusions". He added that the SMER-SSD MEPs represent "the majority of Slovaks who reject both the weaponisation of Ukraine and the primitive Russophobia of Western leaders". Milan Uhrík claimed that von der Leyen "wants to boycott the Hungarian presidency of the European Council because of Orbán's peace plan". The disinformation ecosystem echoed with praise for Orbán and his misrepresentation as a peacemaker.

Eduard Chmelár also contributed to the debate with his criticism of von der Leyen. In a Facebook post, he labelled the politician a "bloody Ursula" and claimed that she wanted to "turn the EU into an arms factory". Von der Leyen and the EC cannot contribute to a peaceful solution to the conflict in Ukraine, according to Chmelár. He was reacting to the aforementioned priority of von der Leyen's new term in office, during which she announced the establishment of a so-called European Defence Union. According to Chmelár, this is a plan to duplicate armaments on twice the current scale, while the EU will remain under NATO's control and pay even higher sums than before.

In another post, Chmelár misleadingly attacked von der Leyen and Charles Michel by claiming that they were "not elected by anyone". According to Chmelár, politicians like Fico and Orbán represent the views of European citizens more than they do. This rhetoric is highly misleading. As we reported above, the re-election of von der Leyen was decided by MEPs in a secret ballot. MEPs themselves are directly elected by the citizens of the EU Member States, which means that their other actions, such as voting or proposing policies, are the delegated will of the citizens themselves.

There have also been other misleading posts over the past two weeks in relation to the war in Ukraine, such as the Russian missile attack on a children's hospital in Kyiv. Eduard Chmelár devoted a post to this topic in which he clearly avoided directly condemning this act and instead re-presented false calls for peace, which, as a result, play into the hands of pro-Russian propaganda and downplay Russia's real responsibility for the war campaign, including war crimes such as attacks on civilians. A similar response came from the current minister of the interior, Matúš Šutaj Eštok. Although he has condemned the Russian attack, he has added empty messages about the need for peace through negotiations with Russia.

Such rhetoric was indirectly criticized by Milan Uhrík, who in his post responded to the fact that Slovak president Peter Pellegrini, as well as minister of defence Robert Kaliňák and minister of foreign affairs Juraj Blanár voted at the negotiations in Washington for 40-billion-dollar military aid for Ukraine and confirmed Ukraine's future accession to NATO. They did so despite their long-standing statements about the need to negotiate with Russia, the immediate cessation of military aid to Ukraine and the alleged outbreak of a World War III after Ukraine's entry into NATO.

Similarly, György Gyimesi said in his post that the NATO summit confirmed an unprecedented escalation of the war. According to Gyimesi, "this war madness is happening despite the fact that Ukraine's war with Russia is not our war, Russia is not threatening NATO, is not attacking it, Ukraine is not a NATO member, so there is no obligation to help beyond our means." The politician thus significantly and deliberately truncated the issue, frightening his audience with the escalation of the conflict and taking pro-Russian positions. Meanwhile, other disinformers, such as Miroslav Heredoš, a member of the Republika party, also operated with the narrative of escalation to World War III.

Project Infosecurity.sk organized by Adapt Institute, which is supported by the Prague office of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, continuously monitors the activities of both Slovak and foreign disinformation actors, but focuses mainly on the former. The project activities are built upon daily monitoring of emerging disinformation, hoaxes, and conspiracy theories in the online information space. This approach allows the analysts to identify disinformation posts and narratives that resonated with the public the most, as well as to find out where they originated, and how they spread and evolved on social media. The report takes the form of a bi-weekly summary of arising trends in the spread of malicious information content online. Based on that, Infosecurity.sk can inform the public about emerging and current trends in the field of disinformation, manipulation, and propaganda.