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

🇸🇰 🎥The false theories that the attempted assassination of Slovak PM Robert Fico is staged. Demagog.sk, a Slovak fact-checking organization part of the EDMO network, reports that in Slovakia several false claims are circulating about the shooting against PM Fico being staged. These allegations question the official version citing alleged inconsistencies, such as the absence of visible blood in the video, suggesting the use of blanks, and asserting that external groups orchestrated the attack. Demagog.sk has debunked these theories by providing expert insights and verifying facts, including the authenticity of the shooting, the validity of the rescue procedures, and the presence of videos from multiple angles capturing the event.

Regarding the other false claims circulating on the issue, the most widespread so far appears to be the one about the wife of the shooter being Ukrainian or somehow tied to Ukraine, a false story pushed by Russian propaganda using tactics similar to those used last February in the case of the dissident Alexei Navalny’s death. This disinformation content has already been identified in: SK, ES, EL, IE, IT, BG, PL, CZ, LT, as well as outside the EU borders.


🇩🇪 🤼 False stories in Germany directly attacking political parties. Recently, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) has been the target of false stories suggesting its alleged offensive rhetoric or even Nazi sympathies. For example, a card with a quote from Kevin Kühnert, the General Secretary of the party, talking about “fighting right-wing extremists” was doctored to suggest that he had said “right-wing sexists”, implying that he had offended all conservative politicians or voters. Another out-of-context and falsified image was re-shared as showing an SPD campaign poster inspired by the Nazi flag, in an attempt to link the party to Nazism.

Similar rhetoric has been used in recent months in disinformation content targeting several other German and European politicians as well as NATO, with disinformation content suggesting that its headquarters are inspired by the SS symbol. 


🎯 Check out the latest issue of the EDMO Weekly Insights and Early Warnings ahead of the June elections. This week’s edition looks at disinformation narratives about major current events, such as the Fico shooting or the death of the Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi. It also includes early warnings on what kind of disinformation to expect, e.g. after some EU member countries announced they will recognize the Palestinian State, the ICC prosecutor requested the arrest of Netanyahu and Hamas leaders, and Ukrainian president Zelensky urged NATO to do more in defending his country. Read the full text here: WEEKLY INSIGHTS and EARLY WARNINGS, n. 7.

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

What is a “disinformation narrative”? Please find here a short methodological note about the definition used by the EDMO fact-checking network.

The Disinfo Bulletin 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.

Photo:OECD/Victor Tonelli