Dealing with Disinformation: A Global Challenge

Asia Matters Podcast

This week Asia Matters joins forces with the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy at the Brussels School of Governance, home to a rich expertise on Asia and working to enhance understanding of Europe's security challenges in the region. Our first in what will be a series of episodes is on disinformation.
Disinformation has become somewhat of a buzzword over the last few years, particularly in the wake of Russian interference into the 2016 US election. But what exactly do we mean when we talk about 'disinformation' - and who is spreading it, and how?
Governments, academics and journalists have been playing ever closer attention to the phenomenon, especially when it comes to state actors - and for Europe, the US and its allies, that means Russia and China in particular.
But faced with a vast array of actors and motives - from pro-Kremlin troll farms to China's so-called wolf warrior diplomats - what efforts can governments take to lessen their impact?
To discuss this, we are joined by Lutz Guellner, the Head of Strategic Communications at the European External Action Service , the EU's diplomatic service. And Bonji Ohara, an expert in defence issues and Senior Fellow at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, joins us from Tokyo.
For more on this episode, including a reading list, our website asiamatterspod.com has all you need - you can also give us feedback and subscribe to our mailing list there.