Publication: Disinformation in the Western Balkans

Samuel Greene has published a paper titled “Mapping Fake News and Disinformation in the Western Balkans and Identifying Ways to Effectively Counter Them” in collaboration with Gregory Asmolov, Adam Fagan, Ofer Fridman, and Borjan Gjuzelov. The paper was requested by the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Please find the abstract below:

“Disinformation is an endemic and ubiquitous part of politics throughout the Western Balkans, without exception. A mapping of the disinformation and counter-disinformation landscapes in the region in the period from 2018 through 2020 reveals three key disinformation challenges: external challenges to EU credibility; disinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic; and the impact of disinformation on elections and referenda. While foreign actors feature prominently – chiefly Russia, but also China, Turkey, and other countries in and near the region – the bulk of disinformation in the Western Balkans is produced and disseminated by domestic actors for domestic purposes. Further, disinformation (and information disorder more broadly) is a symptom of social and political disorder, rather than the cause. As a result, the European Union should focus on the role that it can play in bolstering the quality of democracy and governance in the Western Balkans, as the most powerful potential bulwark against disinformation.”