In short
What?
False reports are circulating online that portray the EU as a dictatorial bloc that is removing all power from the member states. Reports have claimed that the EU is forcing farms in Bulgaria to employ a certain number of LGBTI+ people, that Christmas is to be abolished, and that gel nails are to be banned.
But
Legitimate criticism of the EU and its functioning this is not. These are false claims. There is no evidence whatsoever for dozens of claims that VRT News's editorial team discovered through fact-checking. This fake news is usually widely disseminated by pro-Russian accounts with the aim of undermining the EU's image and influencing elections. You can recognise these false claims by using a number of tips.
‘The EU is forcing Slovakia only to use straw-based toilet paper’ or ‘new EU legislation allows the EU to arrest critical journalists’. It is not difficult to find messages on social media that portray the EU as a dictatorship that controls the lives of its citizens with oppressive legislation.
We see these kinds of messages popping up in almost all EU member states. Even in non-EU countries where the discussion about membership is alive, such as Georgia and Moldova, a lot of fake news about the EU is circulating. Often, the messages come from pro-Russian accounts or are at least further disseminated by these accounts.
This is no coincidence. Over the past three years, elections have been held in many European countries. And attempts have been...
In short What? False reports are circulating online that portray the EU as a dictatorial bloc that is removing all power from the member states. Reports have claimed that the EU is forcing farms i...