FAKE NEWS PHENOMENON IN MOLDOVA IS DUE TO AUTHORITIES INACTION - JOURNALIST

In condition of the media politicization, as well as the influence from abroad, false news remain one of the most vulnerable places of the Moldova's media space, maintains journalist Lilia Zaharia of the "Stop Fals" internet portal.

At the Monday's press conference "Instruments of Influence on Electoral Process", she said that entire groups of "trolls" are involved in distributing false news in internet and it is almost impossible to identify them.

"Given the fact that there are very few journalists, who are fighting this phenomenon, the problem becomes even more serious. The authorities' inaction aggravates the situation, as they do nothing in this direction, despite the available necessary instruments, for example a separate direction of the general Police Inspectorate, which is engaged in investigating cyber crime", she said.

The journalist said that the activity in distributing false news grows higher in the election period: for example during the preparations for the 2016 presidential elections, fake information appeared in internet about pro-European candidate Maia Sandu, which allegedly should have been supported by 30 thousand Syrian refugees at their arrival in Moldova.

Romanian political scientist Lucian Dardala said that a favorable climate for fake news spreading occurs in countries, where the authorities are distancing from the society, which is topical for Moldova.

Director of the Institute of Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) "Viitorul" Igor Munteanu said that the development of the phenomenon is also due to long-standing traditions of the Moldovan political class, which has always been engaged more in issues of society disuinty, than in its consolidation, while the today's Moldova turned into a real laboratory for experiments in using various methods of hybrid war.