Welcome to Disinfo Bulletin, your daily update from the EDMO network. Today's most relevant stories: 

🍓 The false story of the strawberries threatening Spaniards. Recently, false claims are circulating in Spain that the country is importing strawberries from Morocco, supposedly infested with insects, endangering fair trade and public health. In fact, these are completely fabricated allegations. The allegations are similar to others that circulated in the wave of disinformation surrounding the recent farmers’ protests, about which false stories and sometimes conspiracy theories are still circulating – for example, the one that says that Bill Gates wants to replace farmers with artificial intelligence.


🇫🇷🐓 False content that discredits president Macron of France. As reported in the latest EDMO Monthly Brief, French president Emmanuel Macron was the target of disinformation narratives in March. In addition to the false stories mentioned in the brief, other false content targeting him sought to influence the public perception of his figure. For example, fabricated magazine covers depicted him as a warmonger or a failed leader. Exploiting homophobic stereotypes, false stories also purported to show photos and videos of him kissing Ukrainian President Zelensky or dancing in a disco in the 1980s, while other fabricated content claimed that his wife was born male. These false stories were detected in: FR, EL, IT, HU, LT, BG, ES, DE, but also outside the EU.


👍 And now, some good news: although disinformation continues to challenge democracy in Europe, it is not flying entirely under the radar. A CEDMO survey notes that, in Slovakia, the majority of citizens are aware of the impacts of disinformation, with 77% saying they consider it a serious problem. An encouraging result, quite close to broader EU results where 83% of respondents consider “fake news” and disinformation to be a danger. However, according to local fact-checking organizations, a lot remains to be done. Read more here:  Three-quarters of Slovaks perceive the spread of disinformation as a threat to Slovakia’s security.

If you have suggestions, comments or requests about this newsletter, you can write to edmo.tfeu2024@eui.eu

This tool gathers material from the inputs of the EDMO fact-checking network, as well as a recently launched public database from the EFCSN network (Elections 24 Check), and the various national EDMO hubs, including community initiatives and insights from individual fact-checking organizations.