Propaganda and disinformation in the Slovak and Czech Republic

Abstract

Propaganda and credibility of information are two concepts that are broadly intertwined, as both are closely linked to communication and dissemination of information. On the one hand is propaganda, which often uses manipulative and one-sided information to influence public opinion or convince people of a particular perspective. On the other side is the credibility of information, which refers to the truthfulness, accuracy and objectivity of the data transmitted. This article describes and evaluates the main disinformation actions in recent years in Slovak and the Czech Republic. Information manipulation campaigns are multifaceted, and many factors are at play simultaneously. As topical causes with a wide range of consequences, these campaigns are also political and highly politicized. The analytical part of the paper is based on the research that was conducted, which involved 964 respondents from the Slovak and Czech Republic, mainly university students. The research was conducted based on the authors' research instrument. Within the research itself, we surveyed the answers and opinions of respondents as a way of assessing the relevance of information separately for respondents from the Slovak Republic and individually from the Czech Republic according to the age of the respondent in terms of the respondent's assessment of the truthfulness of the information or the importance of the credibility of the information.