Sofia hosts an international conference on fake news

Sofia hosts an international conference on "Fake News of True Trolls" on 9^th of November. The conference will present the European Commission's policy on combating online disinformation and the results of the anti-fake news measures taken so far. Among them is the recently developed Code of Good Practices for Combatting Disinformation on the Internet.

The highlights of the conference are related to fake news and change of public opinion. They arise as a tool on small sites to increase their traffic, and soon they were "embraced" by politics. They reached to drastic dimensions such as influencing people's view of how to treat themselves, having a destructive attitude to traditional medicine.

Iliana Yotova, Vice President: The thousands of “miracle drug” sites for the worst diseases that often lead to death. Sites for the owners of which the security services identified that they were cooks who have nothing to do with medicine, have never touched on medical education, not to mention diplomas and qualifications. But opposed to classical medicine in search of alternative treatments, using the deadlock in which sick people and their loved ones are and become an easy target for such sites.

The conference also highlights the role of traditional media in distinguishing real from fake news.