Government Communication Office receives Prizma 2024 Award for its campaign Stop Disinformation – reREAD, reTHINK, RECHECK

The campaign Stop Disinformation – reREAD, reTHINK, RECHECK was conducted in two phases – before the 2024 European election and during the Cybersecurity Month in October 2024. It was designed and implemented entirely by the public administration personnel. The credit for all the creative work and implementation goes to the staff of the Office, demonstrating that a campaign that achieves measurable impact can be accomplished with limited resources, provided there is expertise, commitment and cooperation. The webpage gov.si/dezinformacije received thousands of views, social media posts had an impressive reach and the campaign encouraged other state institutions to take an active approach to exposing disinformation. The Office has become a recognised partner in many international professional circles.

Its Director Petra Bezjak Cirman stressed: "The Prizma 2024 Award is a great recognition for our team and a confirmation that as professionals within the public administration we can design an effective and socially relevant campaign, using expertise, dedication and limited resources. With the Stop Disinformation campaign, we wanted to raise awareness of the impact of disinformation on the functioning of democracy in an informative and professional manner. We are pleased that our efforts have been acknowledged by experts, especially since this is a field that requires a sensitive, thoughtful, and impartial approach."

The campaign was awarded in category C – Change Management Programmes, which recognises projects that respond professionally and strategically to current societal challenges.

What is disinformation?

Disinformation is misleading or inaccurate information disseminated by individuals, organisations and countries to mislead or manipulate people and public opinion.

With the growing role of social platforms and the development of artificial intelligence, the possibilities for spreading disinformation are increasing rapidly. Disinformation is most effective in times of crisis, uncertainty and general dissatisfaction, because it works at an emotional level, influencing people's opinions and therefore decisions. Its purpose is to create confusion, sow anger and fear, and damage the reputation of people, organisations or institutions, and even whole countries. The problem of the spread of fake information is most acute in times of crisis, such as during the Covid-19 pandemic.