Corruption and the genesis of #FakeNews at the heart of Europe

At the heart of Europe, Nicolay Barekov MEP gathered more than 120 professors, journalists and students in Brussels at a conference on corruption and the genesis of fake news.

More than 120 Bulgarian citizens, including European politicians, professors, journalists and students, discussed the topic of corruption and the genesis of fake news at a conference in Brussels organized by MEP Nikolay Barrekov and the group of European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR).

Guest speakers in the forum included European Parliament Former Deputy Chairman Ryszard Czarnecki, British politician and ECR Deputy Chairman Geoffrey van Orden, European economist and ECR Deputy Chairman Professor Hans-Olaf Henkel, and the owner of EU Reporter, Colin Stevens.

The discussion also involved dozens of public figures and authoritative media. Among them were Plamen Grozdanov, executive director of Union Made in Bulgaria, Dimitar Chobanov, lecturer at the Department of Finance at the University for National and World Economy, Roman Vassilev, former prosecutor and others.

Fake news is directly related to corruption, and it also leads to economic interests, said Hans-Olaf Henkel. According to him, there is a strong restriction of media freedom for this reason.

Professor Henkel also revealed that the German government refused to take responsibility for fake news. According to lawmakers in Germany, the responsibility for fake news should be with Google and Facebook. Underlining that Germany's lift-off facility is being constructed without any problems, and referring to the scandal with the German MEP Ska Keller who came to Sofia and supported protests in defence of the Pirin mountain, Barekov turned to Henkel, asking him if building a lift had become a national problem. In response, the ECR vice president noted that the lady in question did not mention that there are in fact many lifts in Germany.

"The reason is that Germany always wants to be a world champion and to be the country with the best environmental policy."

During his speech, Henkel also noted that the organizer of the event, MEP Nikolay Barekov, was "an excellent representative of Bulgaria not only in our political group (ECR) but also throughout the European Parliament".

"It is a great pleasure for me to work with him," he added.

Fake news gives rise to corruption, and corruption leads to fake news, MEP Nikolay Barekov said. In his words, much of the media has become a corruption squad. As an example, he pointed to the media circle 'Capital', where topics that clearly show corporate interests are often affected. In this regard, the MEP noted that he had invited their representatives, including the co-owner of Economedia, Ivo Prokopiev, to the forum, but they did not accept the invitation to join the debate.

Barekov pointed out the existence of "young and inexperienced" legislation on this issue as a major problem, and noted that any attempt to write a law on this subject encountered corporate opposition.

He was clear that the legislative measures taken to illuminate media funding have to be taken in the direction of "criminalization of fake news".

Czarnecki noted that this was one of the most important seminars held in the European Parliament over the past year, as fake news is one of the biggest challenges for civil society and for democracy.

"This is not a problem only in Europe, but also in the US," he said. In his words, the issue of fake news is related to economic interests and the influence of oligarchs. As an example, he pointed to George Soros, who in his words "wants to change political and economic reality".

Czarnecki was categorical that the most important thing for politicians, journalists and party leaders is to be guided by the interest of people and civil society rather than using the media as a tool for manipulation. "We have to co-operate because the manipulation mechanisms are very similar in our countries," the Polish MEP concluded.

Van Orden said that there was no need to impose further restrictions on the media. The British politician was categorical that the media have to control themselves, and readers themselves are able to distinguish the truth from the lie by reading critically and analytically.

EU Reporter owner Colin Stevens was convinced that fake news has influenced Brexit. He turned to the journalists, and said that they should take responsibility and initiative in sifting real news from fake news.

Plamen Grozdanov, the executive director of Union Made in Bulgaria, said a month ago a team of lawyers analyzed the practice in three European countries about the opportunities for businesses to protect their activities. The countries included were Germany, France and the UK. As a result of this study, it was clear, he said, that there are mechanisms by which companies that have suffered such attacks can defend themselves.

According to Grozdanov, the imposed stereotype in our legislative practice should be changed according to international trends and in Bulgarian legislation explicitly to settle the general question of legal persons being able to suffer non-pecuniary damage and to receive the corresponding indemnity.

What were the economic effects of the spread of fake news revealed by Professor in the Department of Finance at UNWE Dimitar Chobanov? He gave a presentation to the participants in the conference, which made it clear that these are lower consumption, lower Bulgarian and foreign investments, lower credit rating for the state and lower funding from abroad.

Former prosecutor Roman Vassilev revealed the link between political corruption and fake news. He was categorical that there is a symbiosis between the two phenomena and that the media that produces fake news is funded with "dirty money". As a reason for the state's failure to overcome these socially significant problems, Vassilev also pointed out the lack of adequate legislation in this area.

There is a symbiosis between corruption and fake news, said Telegraph newspaper owner Vasil Zahariev. As an example, he pointed out two publishers in the territory of Bulgaria who are accused. "They are members of the Union of Publishers in Bulgaria - Ivo Prokopiev, co-owner of Economedia, is on €100 million, and Ognian Donev, owner of Club Z is accused of tax evasion to the tune of BGN 31m.

According to Zahariev, an interesting phenomenon in Bulgaria is that fake news is also produced by secret service agents.

"I agree with Barekov that there should be new rules for fake news," Zahariev concluded.

According to Iva Stoyanova, CEO of Channel 3, the media is a "weapon" anywhere in the world. As a major issue, she pointed to the fact that journalists today, creating news, do not go with their own names and faces. Stoyanova supported the thesis of Barekov and Zahariev that it should be inadmissible for defendants and oligarchs to be publishers of online and printed publications.

Due to the increased interest and numerous requests for statements on the topic, the MEP Nikolay Barekov announced that the format would continue in Strasbourg or Brussels soon in early summer.

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