Pre-bunking disinformation about migration in the EU

ONLINE ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION

This was a closed-door event by invitation only.

The Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) in cooperation with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) and the European Policy Centre (EPC) organised a virtual roundtable as part of the project “Addressing disinformation about migration through forecasting and ‘prebunking’”.

The project explores pre-emptive strategies against disinformation about migration.

Short term pre-emptive methods should facilitate a more timely response against disinformation and include monitoring and information sharing, early warning of emerging threats and applying foresight to potential future disinformation about migration.

Long term strategies examined in the project seek to strengthen societal resilience through media literacy and essential critical skills that should enable the public to better recognise, understand and reject disinformation techniques and narratives about migration.

Pre-bunking also aims to help communicators take strategic action before disinformation campaigns about migrants begin to circulate, thus preventing further polarisation.

This event followed a first roundtable discussion on this topic held on 9 June 2021 that presented and discussed the project’s core proposals. This second roundtable brought together EU actors and national authorities, civil society organisations, academics, and experts in communication, disinformation, and migration. The roundtable discussion followed a brief presentation of the project recommendations and input statements.