Bledar Feta, Research Associate of ELIAMEP’s South-East Europe Programme and International Relations Expert, attended the V Euromed Young Researchers Forum in Mollina, Spain, where over 25 experts and researchers from different institutes from all over the Euro-Mediterranean region discussed the challenges facing the young people today.
Bledar Feta presented his insights on the way that young people from the Mediterranean region are perceiving the war in Ukraine. According to Feta, “the unprecedented digital transformation of last years has made the Ukrainian war to differ significantly from the previous ones. Online communication channels with a global reach have been engaged in an information and disinformation battle, having the power to influence young people towards the one or the other direction. Unfortunately, there has been a surge of misinformation and purposeful disinformation shared on social media apps routinely used by youth, such as TikTok and Snapchat. There are concerns that this kind of misinformation could affect the views and the perception of young people not only about the war in Ukraine but also about the ways they see their future and the stance of their countries towards the Russo-Ukrainian war”.
Feta argues that “online propaganda and conspiracy myths are posing a larger threat to young people through eroding trust in governing institutions and the world order in general. The Euro-Mediterranean countries do not have the luxury of keeping these wounds open. Therefore, by addressing these problems, the respective countries can reverse the trends and protect their young generation by any kind of propaganda”.
