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

🗳️ The false claim that low voter turnout triggers the “EU Exit” referendum. In Italy, a false claim is going around on Facebook and TikTok, suggesting that the basic laws of the Union mandate a referendum for an immediate exit from the EU in case of low voter turnout in the European elections. This is untrue: no European treaty contains such a provision. The false claim urges people not to vote in the upcoming elections on June 8-9 in Italy.

This is in line with the false stories flagged in previous issues of this Bulletin, circulating in Germany and Spain and encouraging citizens to engage in practices that would invalidate their votes. In this case, the false content about the electoral process directly promotes abstentionism by leveraging nationalistic sentiments.


🌍 The EDMO monthly brief on disinformation detected in May is out. According to information provided by 34 fact-checking organizations that contributed to this edition, the main topics of disinformation in April were the EU – 15% of the total detected disinformation items, the highest value since the dedicated monitoring began –, Ukraine (8%) and the conflict in the Middle East (9%).

The main disinformation phenomenon detected during last month was the further rise of disinformation about the EU, which resulted in the related percentage being the highest share among the topics constantly monitored by EDMO for the second month in a row.

• • False narratives portraying the EU as corrupt and the elections as rigged;

  • Disinformation stories describing the EU as opposed to the various national interests.

You can read the full brief here: Monthly brief no. 36 – EDMO fact-checking network.


🌐 Russian disinformation network Pravda shifts strategy ahead of EU elections. A new analysis by the EDMO fact-checking network reveals that the Russian Pravda disinformation network – about which EDMO published a dedicated investigation in late April – is adopting new tactics to influence EU public opinion just days before the elections. Pravda launched new websites with slightly altered URLs, targeting audiences in multiple EU languages. These websites, registered in Russia, spread Russian propaganda or demonstrably false news, and amplify the claims of minor pro-Russia politicians running for the EU elections. Read the full analysis here: Russian disinformation network “Pravda” tries a new route to influence EU public opinions few days ahead of the vote.


🎯 Check out the latest issue of the EDMO Weekly Insights and Early Warnings ahead of the EU elections. This week’s edition looks at disinformation narratives about major topics targeted by false stories, such as migration and the alleged escalation of the war in Ukraine. It also includes early warnings on what kind of harmful content to expect during election days, including disinformation about the EU electoral process, sensationalist content, and the risk of deepfake audio emerging while EU citizens cast their ballots. Read the full text here: WEEKLY INSIGHTS and EARLY WARNINGS, n. 9.

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.