The scale of disinformation is growing alongside the rapid increase in online content, while new technologies — including artificial intelligence — are further amplifying its reach. Experts point out that it is becoming increasingly difficult for audiences to distinguish truth from falsehood, and that awareness in this area is crucial to limiting the power of disinformation. Regulations are also intended to help, but the challenge is to design them in a way that does not infringe on freedom of speech.
“Disinformation is both a very dynamic and multifaceted phenomenon. We cannot say that it has a fixed form. It is a phenomenon that changes significantly over time, depending on what is happening in the world, but also depending on technological conditions and changes,” Katarzyna Bąkowicz of SWPS University, an expert at the National Security Department of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, told Newseria.
According to the report Disinformation Through the Eyes of Poles, prepared by Digital Poland, already in 2024, 84% of Poles had encountered fake news, and nine out of ten people had believed at least one such piece of information. In the opinion of 82% of respondents, the scale of disinformation spread online has increased over the past decade.
“The information ecosystem in which we currently function is completely different from the one that existed 10, 20 or 100 years ago. Disinformation has always been part of it in some way. The problem we are observing now is that when the amount of information increases, the amount of disinformation automatically increases as well. There is more and more falsified and manipulated content. We are seeing an imbalance between truth and falsehood, that is, between information and disinformation content,” the expert said.
The report’s authors indicate that Poles most often encounter disinformation on social media, cited by 55% of respondents. One in three respondents had come across it on online news portals, 33%, and on blogs and internet forums, 31%. More than every second Pole had received fake news from another person, 59%. The two most common sources of such false information were verbal communication from friends and family, 57%.
“Social media platforms are the main, but not the only, place where there is quite a lot of disinformation. Disinformation can also be non-media-based,” Bąkowicz noted.
Experts highlight a particularly dangerous trend: the use of new technologies to create false content. A total of 71% of respondents admitted that over the past 10 years, the scale of manipulation spread online through artificial intelligence has increased.
“When we talk about the relationship between technology and disinformation, we are of course talking about deepfakes, but also cheapfakes — various types of manipulation made easier by technological tools. We have disinformation in the form of organised campaigns, for example sponsored by Russia, but we also have disinformation at an individual level — every internet user can create it,” stressed the expert from the Chancellery of the Prime Minister.
A report by NASK shows that last year the institution reported more than 46,000 pieces of disinformation content to social media platforms. Moderation action was taken on 68% of the content, and 12% was removed. In 20% of cases, the platforms did not respond at all. This means that more than 9,300 pieces of disinformation content still remain online. As Katarzyna Bąkowicz adds, this phenomenon cannot be completely eliminated from the information ecosystem. However, efforts must be made and tools must be developed to reduce the scale of its spread.
“Regulation and examining where this sphere requires intervention are a very major challenge. We cannot allow ourselves to start censoring content, because freedom of speech is something we care about very much,” the specialist said. “We have many tools to fight disinformation, not only in the cyber category. The challenge is certainly to begin integrating this set of tools into one system, so that we act together: politicians, scientists, businesses and non-governmental organisations. What is needed is interdisciplinarity, meaning a multidimensional view of disinformation, and cooperation, meaning that we complement one another in regulating the information sphere,” she added.
One of the key regulations in this area is the EU’s Digital Services Act, which imposes obligations on large online platforms to reduce risks related to the spread of false or manipulative content. In Poland, the law adapting Polish legislation to the DSA was vetoed by President Karol Nawrocki at the beginning of January, with the main objection being concern about content censorship. The Ministry of Digital Affairs has announced a new version of the regulations. At the beginning of April, new provisions on the national cybersecurity system covering the public sector came into force, requiring entities, among other things, to implement an information security management system.
Initiatives aimed at reducing the risk of disinformation are also being undertaken at the level of other ministries, including the Ministry of Climate and Environment and the Ministry of Health. One example is the so-called lex szarlatan, recently adopted by the government — a draft law intended to combat pseudomedicine and medical disinformation.
“Disinformation on this scale is a relatively new phenomenon, and it will take several years before we feel the effects of the campaigns being conducted. These effects will not appear after two or three months. Grassroots work and deep engagement will bring results, but unfortunately we will have to wait for them,” Bąkowicz said.
The expert reminds that, regardless of emerging regulations, the foundation of the fight against disinformation is the vigilance and awareness of information recipients.
“First, you should look at the headline and check whether it is too sensational and whether it triggers an emotional reaction. It is worth checking the author and the publication date. The most important thing is to give yourself time to explore the subject and to restrain your impatience, so that you do not pass the information on to other users of the infosphere until it has been confirmed,” she advised.
