Presidential elections in Poland: the country prepares for an outbreak of disinformation

Poland predicts an increase in disinformation. Cybersecurity expert Dr. Igor Protasowicz emphasizes that the upcoming elections in Poland are a time of increased disinformation attacks on social networks and websites.

The expert explained that in the era of the Internet, it is impossible to avoid fake news, manipulated videos or so-called deepfakes, – Polish Radio reported.

«We will not be able to regulate this on the Internet. The only thing I can recommend is to search for alternative Internet sources. Traditional media should not be excluded. Information should be verified from different providers. If the same information comes from different sources, this increases the chance that we are dealing with a fact,» – said Igor Protasovitsky.

The Polish government has launched a broad program to protect the presidential elections. It will include, among other things, training for candidates, cyber protection and the fight against disinformation.

Recall that the presidential election campaign officially started in Poland on January 15. The first round of elections will be held on May 18, the second round, if necessary, on June 1. So far, the following have already announced their participation in the presidential elections: Deputy Chairman of the “Civil Coalition”, Mayor of Warsaw Rafal Trzaskowski, President of the Institute of National Remembrance Karol Nawrocki, who is supported by PiS, leader of “Poland 2050” Szymon Gołownia, Vice Speaker of the Senate from the left Magdalena Bejat, one of the leaders of the “Confederation”, MP Sławomir Menzen, MP Marek Jakubiak from the group of “Free Republicans” and Marek Woch from non-party local government officials.