Disinformation is no longer spreading only through fringe actors or political agitators, but through a digital system that rewards outrage, sensationalism and engagement above accuracy, experts warned during a conference in Malta.
Academics, journalists, media specialists and MEPs said false or misleading content was increasingly thriving because online platforms are built to maximise attention, while artificial intelligence is making manipulation faster, cheaper and more convincing.
The warning was made during an event organised by the European Parliament Liaison Office in Malta in collaboration with the 3CL Foundation, the University of Malta and MCAST, focusing on the growing impact of disinformation on democracy, journalism and public trust.
Practical examples showed how misleading content had moved far beyond crude fake stories and anonymous rumours. It now includes AI-generated images, voice cloning, manipulated videos and narratives carefully designed to trigger fear, outrage or anger.
Recent Eurobarometer figures highlighted the scale of concern in Malta. Some 78% of respondents said they were increasingly worried about disinformation, while 79% expressed concern about fake content created through AI. Another 76% said they were worried about hate speech and the protection of personal data online.
Dr Mario Sammut, Head of the European Parliament Office in Malta, said the findings showed clear concern among citizens about the risks present in today’s digital environment.
“In today’s fast-moving digital world, it is easy to be misinformed and easily manipulated by what we see and read online,” he said.
“These concerns clearly show that people recognise the risks they are exposed to, and that these risks may grow further in the years ahead.”
Dr Paula Gori, from the European Digital Media Observatory, said public debate had increasingly shifted online, but the digital public square was shaped primarily by commercial interests rather than civic values.
“We are getting informed online, we are discussing online, so public space has moved online,” she said.
Gori warned that many users no longer actively choose the information they consume, but instead depend on algorithms that determine what appears in their feeds. Content that provokes strong emotional reactions often performs better, making it more visible and more profitable.
“Information manipulation plays with emotion,” she said.
She also noted the growing volume of low-quality and misleading material circulating online, saying even clearly false content could still distort perceptions, confuse audiences and feed machine-learning systems.
Prof Ġorġ Mallia said society now carried unprecedented access to information “in our pocket”, but many people were less certain than ever about what was true.
He said business models based on clicks and engagement had encouraged sensationalism, rewarding attention over accuracy.
Times of Malta editor Herman Grech said professional journalism was facing a constant struggle to report facts while competing in an online environment driven by distraction and rapid consumption.
“It has become a struggle not to try and report the facts, but to try and keep audiences engaged,” he said.
Grech warned that if trusted media weakened further, societies would become more vulnerable to propaganda and coordinated influence campaigns.
The conference also focused on how the European Union is responding.
Sammut said the EU was acting “on several fronts through stronger legislation, closer monitoring and greater awareness”, adding that citizens needed more control over what they see online and greater transparency on why certain content is shown to them.
He said this was one of the aims behind measures such as the Digital Services Act, while the EU was also supporting independent journalism, fact-checkers and media literacy initiatives.
MEP Alex Agius Saliba said Europe had already introduced rules to curb the spread of disinformation, but enforcement now had to match the ambition of the legislation.
“As MEPs we set clear rules for the Big Tech platforms to stop the spread of disinformation,” he said.
He added that companies operating in the EU market must respect democratic standards and European law.
MEP Peter Agius said regulation remained important, but the battle against misinformation also had to be fought locally through education, stronger institutions and public awareness.
“We must fight misinformation first and foremost on the ground in Malta,” he said.
Participants agreed that no single law or technology would solve the issue, calling instead for stronger critical thinking skills, better media literacy and continued support for independent journalism.
