site.btaStudy Reveals Nostalgia for Socialist Era as Key Disinformation Narrative in Bulgaria's Roma Community

One of the popular disinformation narratives among the Roma community in Bulgaria is nostalgia for the socialist era, shows a study titled Roma and Disinformation. It was presented Thursday during a workshop organized by the Association of European Journalists in Bulgaria (AEJ-Bulgaria).

The study was presented by Mina Kirkova, a journalist from Factcheck.bg, freelance journalist Mikhail Mishev, Deyan Nikolov and Teodora Krumova from the Amalipe Centre for Interethnic Dialogue and Tolerance.

The authors of the study note that publications with such messages are very popular in Roma groups on Facebook. For example, the group The World of Roma, which has over 60,000 followers, shares disinformation that has already been debunked by fact-checkers.

Other common disinformation topics in the Roma community include anti-Ukrainian narratives, disinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines, about gender issues and the LGBTQ+ community.

The study also points out that disinformation about the Roma community in Bulgaria is a significant problem. It fuels distrust in the media and drives people to seek alternative sources, sometimes leading them to disinformation on various topics. A major part of anti-Roma narratives in the media depicts the community as ignorant, politically disengaged, and willing to sell their vote, thus "stealing" the democratic choices of Bulgarian voters. This issue has been especially prominent in the last few years, during the seven snap elections in Bulgaria. The study also notes that recent months have seen a narrative in Roma Facebook groups about division between Bulgarians and Roma regarding this issue.

The spread of all the disinformation narratives examined, in most cases, is not limited to Roma communities, the report further notes.