Issues of Misinformation, Media Manipulation, Propaganda in Cyberspace

Abstract

The internet creates a virtual space where individuals strive to capture their dreams, art, and culture. Within it, one can find the greatness and dignity of humanity, but also the baseness and wickedness that signify the decline of the spirit. The internet has drastically diminished the significance of space and distance in social interactions. It has enabled the crossing of temporal boundaries, provided anonymity in contacts, and facilitated access to previously inaccessible information, including open educational resources and sources of cultures different from one’s own. The language of digital media is a system of signs. Without understanding them, contemporary individuals become slaves, and their lives become meaningless and purposeless play. Illiteracy and low computer and media literacy can become sources of social and cultural manipulation on an unprecedented scale. Information networks connect not only universities, businesses, and people, but they have also become tools for playing out cultural, social, economic, political rivalries, as well as criminal and terrorist activities, and more recently, military actions. The COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have their dramatic images in the real world, but also in cyberspace. This article fills a gap in this area by addressing the issues of misinformation, media manipulation, propaganda, and infodemics. It presents a classification of security threats to children, youth, and adults and describes selected initiatives undertaken in this regard by the European Union. The author draws upon humanistic and social thought, pointing out avenues for analysis and ways to counteract negative consequences.