Disinformation As Part Of Hybrid Threats – Czech-Slovak View

Abstract

The paper presents a comparative analysis of research on the issue of disinformation among students of two educational institutions in České Budějovice and Bratislava, namely the College of European and Regional Studies (CZ) and the Academy of the Police Force in Bratislava (SK). The research focuses on the comparison of attitudes, abilities, and awareness of disinformation among students from both institutions within their respective educational environments. The data were collected through questionnaire surveys and analysis of specific situations related to disinformation are relevant to security study programmes. Based on the partial results obtained through the questionnaire survey, three key findings emerged. The first finding indicates that almost all respondents confirm having experienced encounters with disinformation. The second finding points to the relatively low ability of the respondents to competently identify disinformation, with only 7.42 % of VŠERS students and 7.91 % of APZ students demonstrating this skill. The third crucial finding suggests that the training of security experts in both institutions needs to be changed and improved, as only 23.44 % of VŠERS students and 25.32 % of APZ students declare being sufficiently informed about the disinformation issue. These findings emphasize the need to upgrade the educational programs and highlight the challenge of increasing students´ awareness and skills related to combating disinformation. This research provides valuable insights for the educational programmes of both institutions and may serve as support for further development of teaching methodologies aimed at enhancing students' abilities to identify and handle the issues concerning spreading disinformation in society.