site.btaSteven Mehringer: We Fight Fake News with Facts

112 POLITICS - NATO - FAKE NEWS - DISCUSSION

Steven Mehringer:
We Fight Fake
News with Facts


Sofia, February 15 (BTA) - Head of the NATO Public Diplomacy Division, Communications Services section Steven Mehringer said that dealing with fake news requires a careful strategic approach, at a conference titled NATO: Setting the Record Straight on Fake News at the Central Military Club here on Friday. He discussed the Alliance's understanding of fake news and ways to resolve the problem, .

Mehringer said one of the big challenges when it comes to disinformation and fake news is that "the enemies of peace and security" can do anything they want and no one holds them responsible. He noted NATO is not that flexible and must keep up its standards. According to him, they [the enemies] have many resources, including financial ones, and people spreading disinformation in social media. The expert noted that NATO does not respond to everything, nor does it engage in the "tweet for tweet" fight, as playing the same game would not have a good outcome for the Alliance.

He noted that the Alliance has a section for clarifying facts that analyzes fake news published on social media and points to the real information and to the fact that the respective news do not correspond to the truth. "We fight fake news with facts," Mehringer said.

Answering a question, he explained the comparatively new phenomenon of "deepfake", which is a technique for synthesizing a human image based on artificial intelligence that produces fake video materials of people committing acts that never happened. Mehringer noted that these will pose a big problem and huge potential risks. According to him, the right technical equipment identifies such fake news easily but in the future, technology will be so developed that even analytical instruments will be unable to discern between fake and real.

The diplomatic institute with the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry initiated a cycle of public discussions involving NATO representatives to mark the 15th anniversary of Bulgaria's membership in NATO and the 70th anniversary of the Alliance. RY/TH

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