On 23 May 2026, CEDMO researcher Jakub Kubs joined a panel discussion at the GLOBSEC Forum 2026 in Prague, contributing findings from CEDMO’s ongoing research into coordinated information manipulation across Europe.

The side session Distorted Reality: Information Manipulation and Its Impact Across Europe, hosted by GLOBSEC, brought together researchers from three projects — CEDMO, BROD, and NARDIV — to examine how disinformation narratives emerge, spread, and embed themselves across different national contexts. The discussion drew on evidence from Central Europe, the Black Sea region, and Western Europe, exploring shared vulnerabilities in the information environment and the potential for cross-border cooperation in addressing them.

The panel was moderated by Jana Kazaz (GLOBSEC) and also featured Calin-Stefan Georgia from Funky Citizens (BROD) and Dr. Christian Noack from the University of Amsterdam (NARDIV).

Jakub Kubs presented CEDMO research on the Pravda network — a coordinated infrastructure of websites systematically producing and distributing manipulative content across European audiences. The research maps the network’s sources, reach, and operational logic, documenting how such sites exploit algorithmic amplification and target existing societal fault lines.

The full investigation is available here: Global Offensive: Mapping the Sources Behind the Pravda Network

Participants shared perspectives from their respective national and regional contexts, painting a picture of a challenge that is both locally specific and structurally shared. A central theme was the cost-effectiveness of disinformation as a tool of foreign information manipulation: unlike conventional warfare, influence operations require minimal investment to produce significant political effect. As one participant noted, the resources needed to sway an election in a small country through coordinated information manipulation are comparable to the cost of a single day of conventional conflict. This asymmetry makes disinformation an attractive instrument for hostile actors — and an underestimated threat for democracies. Participants agreed that Europe needs to be far more active in pushing back, and that information manipulation should be treated not merely as a communications or media literacy challenge, but as a security issue requiring a commensurate institutional and policy response.

Author: Jana Kazaz