Understanding Disinformation in the Digital Age: An Expert Perspective

Disinformation has emerged as one of the defining challenges of our time, shaping public discourse and influencing politics worldwide. According to Tomáš Koblížek, a philosopher of language at the Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences, disinformation possesses several distinct characteristics that differentiate it from other forms of communication.

“What makes it disinformation? First, it is part of mass communication,” Koblížek explains. “Disinformation is not when I tell somebody something at a bus stop. It’s something that happens on radio or television or via the internet.”

The second critical aspect, he notes, is the intent to manipulate. Using the Russian massacre in Bucha, Ukraine as an example, Koblížek highlights how disinformation campaigns operate beyond simple deception. “Sometimes the aim isn’t just to deceive but to confuse people so they lose interest in a topic. When people receive contradictory information, they fall into apathy—that’s another aim of disinformation campaigns.”

This strategy of overwhelming audiences with conflicting narratives has become increasingly common. Steve Bannon, a former associate of Donald Trump, famously referred to it as “flooding the zone with shit”—a deliberate attempt to create information overload that paralyzes the public’s ability to distinguish fact from fiction.

“You should not measure the impact of disinformation only by how many people are deceived,” Koblížek warns. “You should also measure how many people got bored by the information.”

The Rise of “Bullshit” as Technical Term

In discussing modern disinformation, Koblížek references philosopher Harry Frankfurt’s concept of “bullshit”—a technical term describing communication where the speaker doesn’t care about truth or falsehood but simply says whatever serves their purpose.

“When you are lying, you are trying to persuade somebody about something that is not true. When you are bullshitting, you just do not care if what you are saying is true or false,” Koblížek explains. “This is what Donald Trump does very often. He says anything—part of it is true, part of it is not. He just doesn’t care if it’s true or not.”

Why Disinformation Matters Now

The surge in public concern about disinformation began around 2016 with Brexit and Trump’s election victory. This interest intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The proximity of the Ukraine conflict to Central Europe—”a one-day drive from Prague to the front,” as Koblížek puts it—has made disinformation a security concern as well as a social one.

Technology and social media architecture have fundamentally altered how information spreads. “Traditional media have editors, they have standards, but with social media, you don’t have any editors or standards,” Koblížek points out. “We are trying to push Facebook and X to adhere to some standards, but they resist. And now it’s actually very easy to spread disinformation or hate speech on social media.”

Czech Republic’s Disinformation Landscape

In the Czech Republic, disinformation targets several key areas. Climate change disinformation has become particularly prevalent, often supported by economic interests resistant to environmental regulation. Disinformation about the war in Ukraine continues to circulate, with narratives often originating from Russia but adapted for local consumption.

Perhaps most concerning to Koblížek is disinformation targeting minorities. “One thing that really interests me is disinformation about minorities, about LGBT people or Roma people, which makes the lives of these people really difficult,” he says.

Some of this content targets children as young as nine or ten years old, particularly anti-LGBT propaganda. “There are some pseudo-conservative circles that are really upset about the ‘gender agenda’ or equality regarding gender. So they spread disinformation about this topic for kids of a young age.”

Countering Disinformation

Koblížek emphasizes media literacy as the foundation for combating disinformation. While fact-checking remains important, he believes education—starting with elementary school students—is crucial. He points to Finland as a successful example, where children learn early to verify sources and distinguish between misinformation and disinformation.

For adults who have already fallen into disinformation circles, Koblížek suggests a different approach. “For some people, it’s a lifestyle. They spend their time watching disinformation news because they are socially isolated. So one thing you might do is not to persuade them about disinformation, but just to get them out of this kind of life.”

He also cautions against labeling people who believe disinformation, which can shut down dialogue. “I use the word disinformation quite often, but I would never use the word ‘disinformer,’ because you are just labeling somebody.”

Despite the challenges, Koblížek remains optimistic. “Maybe this will sound really crazy, but I’m a big optimist,” he says. “I think it’s not good to be too apocalyptic about disinformation. We always imagine it as a giant and we cannot really do anything. But we know there are lots of examples from around the world where we see that you can fight disinformation very effectively.”

Through education, thoughtful engagement, and refusing to demonize those who have been misled, Koblížek believes societies can build resilience against disinformation campaigns and preserve the value of truth in public discourse.