IN THIS EDITION
ON THE RISE
Weekly Watch of Emerging Disinformation Risks
Rewriting the past, endangering the future
Ratko Mladić is dead, but disinformation and propaganda spreading dangerous nationalism are alive and well. The death of the former commander of the Army of Republika Srpska, convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, reopened one of the Balkans’ most toxic battles over historical memory.
Politicians, media and sectors of Serbian public opinion openly celebrated Mladić as an unjustly convicted hero, minimizing or denying the genocide he ordered in Srebrenica and spreading conspiracy theories about an alleged anti-Serbian plot by the West and international justice. Russian state media, and other groups and channels related to Russia, regularly contribute to the dissemination of these narratives.
This is not simply a dispute over the past. The genocide denialism fuels an aggressive paranoid nationalism that pushes Serbia further into the arms of Russia and away from the European Union. More importantly, it pours gasoline on the flames of religious, ethnic and national fault lines, increasing the risks of violence erupting again in the Balkans.
Minimizing or openly denying the crimes the Bosnian Serb army committed in the past benefits extreme nationalistic forces and endangers peace in the region. What to think then about the proposals of the far-right German party, AfD – that recently won 44% of the vote in the elections in Saxony-Anhalt – to reduce the importance of teaching about the Holocaust and Nazism in the school curricula of young Germans? To abolish the state agency for civic education that supports educational visits to Nazi memorials?
These proposals come from a party whose ties to neo-Nazism are numerous and well documented, and which is currently leading in the national polls. A redacted German memory could probably benefit AfD political messaging – some of which echo appalling ideas from the past – , but what could be endangered by it? Not only history books, but the current European architecture, with the risk of reopening divisions that Europe has spent decades trying to overcome.
Russia, which has potentially a lot to gain from the AfD coming to power in Germany – dismantling the EU, resuming purchases of Russian gas and stopping all support to Ukraine – is clearly trying to favour the far-right in Germany. But it’s not just Russia: the ranks of those rooting for the AfD to win the federal elections and destroy the EU have been joined by the United States of America. Rewriting European history, in short, ultimately benefits foreign powers outside Europe.
ZOOM-IN
A Closer Look at Cases Detected by the EDMO Network
Mystification of history is a paradigmatic form of disinformation that is increasingly weaponised by neo-nationalist movements across Europe. By glorifying idealised pasts, and minimising historical atrocities, these narratives construct selective versions of national identity and distort collective memory. Digital platforms amplify such myths, transforming historical revisionism into powerful political tools that legitimise exclusion, resentment, and authoritarianism. Recent signals of such a phenomenon in Serbia and Germany just confirm a long-term trend already identified in previous EDMO investigations. The following selection is to remind how historical disinformation is taking ground in political communications across different national contexts, but also the importance of innovative solutions for history education.
Pop fascism: rewriting history in the digital age
A 2025 joint investigation by Maldita and Facta defined “pop fascism” as a growing phenomenon in which fascist leaders such as Francisco Franco, Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler are repackaged as memes, music, jokes, AI-generated videos, and widely circulated on platforms such as TikTok, X, YouTube and Telegram: a phenomenon that helps normalise fascist imagery and revisionist narratives, particularly among younger audiences.
The content ranges from manipulated celebrity videos and nostalgic portrayals of dictators to “Franco Fridays,” “Führer Fridays” and revived fascist slogans. Memes and irony make extremist ideas appear humorous, harmless or culturally relevant, while disinformation presents distorted claims about dictators’ achievements and denies or minimises historical atrocities, including the Holocaust. The article argues that these strategies represent an adaptation of far-right propaganda to contemporary digital culture. By making extremist symbols more accessible and visually appealing, social media can gradually reduce resistance to authoritarian ideas and facilitate ideological recruitment, especially among young people.
Holocaust for Sale: how Facebook profits from AI-driven falsification of History
In 2025, Provereno Media detected numerous strange posts appearing simultaneously on several Facebook pages portraying supposed Holocaust victims. Their investigation found that both images and biographies were AI-generated, while the pages appeared largely motivated by engagement and monetisation, exploiting emotional Holocaust content to generate likes, shares and advertising revenue. The Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum described the phenomenon as “falsification of history”, and the investigation specifically warned that fabricated Holocaust victims could subsequently be exploited by Holocaust deniers: if some supposed victims are demonstrably fake, deniers can use that to cast doubt on genuine victims and evidence.
A parallel initiative by EDMO Belux, The illusion of the archive: when AI generates images of the past, represents an interesting media-literacy treatment of historical revisionism. EDMO BELUX examined AI-generated images purporting to depict concentration camps and asked how people should respond when AI-generated visual material presents itself as historical evidence. The initiative developed a media-literacy tool that explicitly connects the phenomenon with the risk of historical revisionism.
Nationalism and Idealised Past: a retrospective look at the 2024 Presidential elections in Romania
Based on Funky Citizens’ report, the 2024 Romanian presidential campaign showed historical revisionism operating as part of a broader nationalist and “sovereigntist” narrative framework. Analysis of more than 9,000 Telegram posts from 35 campaign-affiliated groups found recurring historical revisionism, glorification of the past and admiration for historical extremists. Călin Georgescu’s messaging idealised Romania’s Dacian heritage, presenting the Dacians as symbols of resistance to foreign influence; this historical mythology fed contemporary anti-globalist and anti-Western narratives.
The report also highlighted Georgescu’s praise of Legionary leader Corneliu Zelea Codreanu and former dictator Ion Antonescu for their “good deeds”, alongside his downplaying of Romania’s Holocaust.
The report further noted that such narratives were not new in 2024: they formed part of an ongoing stream of polarising discourse whose frequency and visibility increased during the electoral period. Thus, history functioned not simply as misinformation, but as a political resource for constructing an idealised national past and legitimising contemporary nationalism and rejection of Western alliances.
These examples find today an echo in the idealized, romanticized vision of 19th-century Imperial Germany – specifically the era of Otto von Bismarck – that Alternative for Germany (AfD) is increasingly leveraging to pivot German national identity away from post-WWII Holocaust remembrance and guilt, replacing it with an aggressive, ethno-nationalistic pride.
ELECTION BEAT
Tracking electoral disinformation through EDMO Hubs
“Election fraud everywhere” but the Swedish Election Authority denies the rumors
A technical error caused up to 500 early votes to be incorrectly registered in Sweden, after a vote receiver began processing a new vote before completing the previous one. The number may decrease further. The Election Authority says it won’t be able to identify who was affected, but will publish a list of polling locations and times so voters can check whether they need to recast their vote on September 13.
The incident sparked rumors of “election fraud” on social media, with some linking it to false claims tied to the 2018 outage of Val.se (the Swedish Election Authority website), which was actually a denial-of-service attack that didn’t affect results. Unfounded claims also spread that Election Authority head Anna Nyqvist is a Social Democrat. The agency denies this, calling her a non-political civil servant.
This follows earlier misinformation waves, including false claims about voting multiple times without ID, and now-retracted SD branch posts warning of “widespread election fraud” based on inaccurate claims about polling procedures.
How a hospital closure list became a vehicle for political misinformation
A list of closed emergency hospitals, became viral on social media to criticize Social Democrat and left-wing healthcare policy. The list largely matches researcher Kjell Asplund’s data, but omits Köping’s emergency hospital, which was downgraded in 2024 under a right-wing (M, KD, L) majority.
Asplund confirms he shared his research with the list’s anonymous creator, who says the Köping omission was an oversight, not a political choice, and has since updated the list. A local SD branch that shared the list was also criticized for excluding Köping and removed its post, admitting its wording was misleading.
Experts note the pattern is more about regional wealth than party politics: poorer, depopulating areas — often left-governed — see more closures, while centralization is driven by patient safety, resource management, and rising specialization requirements, a trend seen across the OECD, not unique to Sweden.
No, German media did not suppress coverage of SPD politician’s abuse sentence
A viral Facebook post falsely claimed German media, particularly public broadcasting, ignored the 2024 prison sentencing of a former SPD deputy mayor of Lünen for child sexual abuse, alleging suppression because he belonged to the SPD rather than the AfD. This is false: a basic search shows the case was widely covered by national outlets like Zeit and Spiegel, local media, and public broadcaster WDR.
The politician was sentenced in May 2024 to three years and six months (later reduced to three years three months) for abusing minors for money and buying child pornography. Reports named him in line with the German Press Code’s public-interest exception, though dpa’s fact-check omits his name per resocialization guidelines.
This case fits a broader pattern: it reaffirms the impartiality and Press Code compliance of German public broadcasters’ election-related coverage, directly countering AfD’s recurring claims of PSB “political capture”, a narrative likely to resurface ahead of upcoming state elections.
GLOBAL PULSE
Disinformation narratives shaping the world’s conversations
The New York Times did not report that Saudi Arabia threatened Israel with “full-scale war” if it attacked Turkey
On August 31, an article that has been later republished by several Greek online media, claimed that Saudi Arabia has threatened to engage in a full-scale war against Israel, on Turkey’s side, if Turkish territory is attacked. It attributes this statement to a Saudi Defense Ministry source, who was reportedly cited by the New York Times, before referring to a potential regional conflict that could also involve Syria, Azerbaijan, Greece and Cyprus.
Although the recent defense agreement between Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan stipulates that an armed attack on one of the three states will be considered an attack on all parties, the New York Times reports analysed by MedDMO partner Cyprus University of Technology do not mention any statement threatening Israel with “generalized war” in the event of an attack on Turkey. No other reliable source confirmed that such a statement was made, either.
Brazil elections 2026: the key points that pit Lula against Flávio Bolsonaro
On October 4, more than 158 million Brazilians will be eligible to elect the next president and vice president, in addition to renewing part of congress and state governments. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is seeking a fourth term, while Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, is one of the leading opposition candidates. The campaign is focused on issues such as public security, the economy, corruption, health, and education.
Lula’s platform emphasizes social policies, reducing inequality, national sovereignty, and fighting organized crime, while Flávio Bolsonaro advocates a tougher approach to crime, including expanding prison capacity and building new maximum-security facilities. The election also has regional significance because Brazil is Argentina’s main trading partner, and relations between the two countries have recently been strained by political disputes involving Argentine President Javier Milei and Lula.
Furthermore, a recent fact-check found that a network of Argentine accounts falsely claimed Lula’s policies had triggered a mass influx of Moroccan immigrants into Brazil, when the story was actually based on just 50 migrants assisted by a charity in Florianópolis and was amplified using misleading context and unrelated images.
Fact-Checking Putin’s claims after the SCO summit
A VoxCheck analysis published by EDMO reviewed statements made by Vladimir Putin during a press conference in Bishkek following the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit and concluded that several of his claims were misleading or false. The fact-check challenges Putin’s assertions about Russian military advances near Sumy and in Donetsk, noting that independent data shows limited progress on the battlefield and that Russia has repeatedly missed its own deadlines for capturing all of Donetsk Oblast. It also disputes his claims about the Black Sea Grain Initiative, finding that a significant share of Ukrainian grain exports went to developing countries, including Africa, contrary to Putin’s remarks.
The article further rejects Putin’s denial of attacks on civilian vessels, citing documented Russian strikes on grain ships that caused civilian deaths. It also argues that Putin misrepresented Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as retaliation, pointing out that Russia began targeting energy facilities before Ukraine launched large-scale strikes on Russian oil infrastructure. The fact-check concludes that Putin repeatedly distorted facts, recast unverified claims as evidence, and presented a contradictory image of seeking peace while Russian forces continued attacks across Ukraine.
ON A DIFFERENT NOTE
Newsfluencers are neither inherently beneficial nor inherently harmful. They represent ambivalent actors whose power derives from authenticity, direct audience relationships, and independence from institutional gatekeeping. These same characteristics position them simultaneously as a source of democratic opportunity and democratic vulnerability.
Strengthening democratic resilience requires moving beyond simplistic opposition between journalism and influencers/newsfluencers. Instead, policy and practice should seek to combine journalism’s professional safeguards with newsfluencers’ capacity to reach and mobilise contemporary audiences.
Paolo Cesarini, Editorial Director
Tommaso Canetta, Editor-in Chief
Editorial Staff include Elena Coden, Paula Gori, Elena Maggi
This edition draws in part on automated translation and reflects information available as of 9 September 2026. Later developments may not be included.
