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Coronavirus Crisis: the Misinformation About the Catalan Nationalism As a Strategic Challenge for Spain

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Coronavirus Crisis: the Misinformation About the Catalan Nationalism As a Strategic Challenge for Spain REPORT APRIL, 2ND 2020 CORONAVIRUS CRISIS: THE MISINFORMATION ABOUT THE CATALAN NATIONALISM AS A STRATEGIC CHALLENGE FOR SPAIN Nicolás de Pedro Senior Fellow, The Institute for Statecraft www.seguridadycultura.org @InstitutoSyC INDEX 1 INTRODUCTION Page. 4 2 WHY THE MISINFORMATION Page. 6 IS A STRATEGIC THREAT TO DEMOCRACIES 3 MISINFORMATION AND INTERNALIZATION OF Page. 12 THE CATALONIAN INDEPENDENCE PROCESS 4 TEN KEY ASPECTS TO UNDERSTAND THE Page. 17 MISINFORMATION STRATEGY OF THE CATALONIAN SEPARATISM www.seguridadycultura.org @InstitutoSyC 1 INTRODUCTION The misinformation is a strategic challenge for Spain. It is an ordinary and increasing problem that affects all the democracies that are based on open informative ecosystems, even though it has in each present context its own special features and characteristics. Perhaps, information and communication do not directly save lives, but, certainly, it can be stated that the misinformation causes victims and shall make this crisis we are facing costlier and more difficult. The coronavirus threatens to take thousands of citizens’ lives and it will test as ruthless our economic, political and social resilience. Misinforming is to intentionally spread wrong, manipulated or biased information with hostile purposes. The purposefulness is the key element to differentiate the erroneous, wrong information or such wrongly spread unconsciously. The Posted on Carles Puigdemont’s Twitter account on 14th, March 2020. popular concept fake news shall refer to both, but the excessive use of such term -used also by several political leaders as a synonym of any critical information for them- has distorted its as the current one when the spreading of unfounded usage. If there is misinformation, the information rumors, misinformation campaigns or large and communication turn into a weapon. And that influence and propaganda operations are multiplied. happens in the domestic political disputes as well as in geostrategic confrontations of wide range. China and Russia are offering these days good Both dynamics may, and usually do, converge and examples of all those; however, until now, with coincide, making the response difficult for such significant differences. Thus, whereas the Russian societies suffering it. Those who misinform normally misinformation is mainly disruptive and attempts take advantage of the preexisting vulnerabilities and to confuse, worry, polarize, paralyze or neutralize use the crisis opportunity to maximize its impact. strategically those considered its opponent, It is not by chance that, therefore, it is during times China seems to bet on the search of the narrative 4 CORONAVIRUS CRISIS: THE MISINFORMATION ABOUT THE CATALAN NATIONALISM AS A STRATEGIC CHALLENGE FOR SPAIN Nicolás de Pedro www.seguridadycultura.org @InstitutoSyC “The interview granted by the Generalitat President, Quim Torra, to the worldwide service of the BBC on March 19, is a good example, but just one more among such proposal that, as known, it attempts to discredit the Spanish democracy besides longing for the separatist “process internationalization” supremacy and the tale control with a more granted by the Generalitat President, Quim Torra, ambitious and of a wider range proposal. Beijing to the worldwide service of the BBC on March 19, has been prepared to take advantage of the is a good example, but just one more among such uneasiness of some European administrations and proposal that, as known, it attempts to discredit such of the European Union facing the coronavirus the Spanish democracy besides longing for the to try to change the main tale about the pandemic separatist “process internationalization”. It is not a and to create enough confusion and noise as to temporary matter or something that only has to be bury the origin of the crisis in Wuhan. The narrative with Torra or a nationalist leader, but a structured link between the sanitary products sending to Spain and strategic matter. As a result, once the critical and the new Silk Road project is, probably, a good phase of the coronavirus pandemic is overcome, indicator to see how this matter shall develop. such matter shall be addressed without any extremes, but profoundly. Otherwise, the territorial Guiding ourselves by such same logic and using and constitutional order burst in Spain, medium and similar methods -with such not presupposing long term, is not, at all, an unbelievable scene. operative nor of calendar alignment- a part of the Catalan nationalism has shown its intention to take advantage of the coronavirus crisis to make progress in the separatist project. The interview CORONAVIRUS CRISIS: THE MISINFORMATION ABOUT THE CATALAN NATIONALISM AS A STRATEGIC CHALLENGE FOR SPAIN 5 Nicolás de Pedro www.seguridadycultura.org @InstitutoSyC WHY THE MISINFORMATION IS A STRATEGIC THREAT 2 TO DEMOCRACIES 6 CORONAVIRUS CRISIS: THE MISINFORMATION ABOUT THE CATALAN NATIONALISM AS A STRATEGIC CHALLENGE FOR SPAIN Nicolás de Pedro www.seguridadycultura.org @InstitutoSyC The misinformation phenomenon is not new. Political hoaxing and mind control are as old as ourselves. It is not either new the attempt of those who unlawfully hold the power to control the political statement. The art, representation and symbolic ritualization resource or the creation of a grand narrative or general framework that explain and legalize such power and social order and its holding over time are as valid now as in the ancient Mesopotamia. The legitimization sources, develop over time and what is specific and distinguishing of the current reality is the digital revolution, that has radically changed, among other aspects, our informative and communication ecosystems. Smartphones position the information and communication in the center of the daily activity of the majority of the citizens, that behaves as a receptor and as a transmission vector. The social networks, instant messaging applications and technological giants as Google growth has caused, on the one hand, the erosion of the traditional media business model and, with that, also such of the professional screening and its role as guardian of the access to the public conversation. On the other hand, even that the dissolution of such access barriers democratizes this same public conversation and allows to access to an incredible volume of information and knowledge that was Posted on the former Vice President of the Generalitat and former before unimaginable, it does also make it easier President of ERC Josep-Lluís Carod Rovira’s Twitter account. for the massive information spreading without any publishing responsibility and for the control of the communication flow. “The dissolution of such access barriers also makes it easier for the massive information spreading without any publishing responsibility and for the control of the communication flow” CORONAVIRUS CRISIS: THE MISINFORMATION ABOUT THE CATALAN NATIONALISM AS A STRATEGIC CHALLENGE FOR SPAIN 7 Nicolás de Pedro www.seguridadycultura.org @InstitutoSyC such as the free information flow or the European In other words, it offers extraordinary beneficial companies open and diverse character, into a opportunities, but also many chances and ease to a possible strategic vulnerability. spiteful use of the network. And, probably, the worst is still to come. Proliferation Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp or Telegram of deepfakes -rather videos or audios recorded with apparently makes it easier for a larger citizenship artificial intelligence more and more realistic every involvement in public debates and are a distinctive time, difficult to guess and cheaper to produce- may element of the current media ecosystem. mean that we esteem the current misinformation Nevertheless, in practice, algorithms and the using as far as we see wars with bows and arrows. Fake of these platforms seems to decisively contribute videos made by artificial intelligence may have legal to the polarization, the echo chamber effect and purposes -for example, in the audiovisual industry- the emotional and visual supremacy over logic and but it is easy to suspect its explosive and potentially factual accuracy. It is that way created a propitious devastating consequences in the political and environment to transform democratic strengths, international relationships field if it’s making and broadcasting is not regulated. It is convenient to not forget that there are no borders on the Internet. At least not in the democratic countries’ virtual environment. There are not either many rules or standards and rules implementation of the brick and mortar world. Once again, the Internet can be used for righteous purposes -collaborative research to get a vaccine against coronavirus, for example- as well as for damaging purposes -unfounded rumors and conspiratorial theories spreading, following the same example-. Specially, social networks offer free access to the Retweet from the former President of Catalonian Parliament Núria de Gispert’s Twitter account. heart of liberal democracies. They allow to access immediately to a massive audience, with low cost and low risks, as the responsibility, normally, is unknown and makes it easier for state and not state actors to act, in many cases, under the response threshold of occidental democracies. An aspect that, in the strategic competition context that we are now deep into, will keep increasing in the next years. Thus, we have recently seen Russia follow specific tactical objectives, as, for example, creating enough noise and confusion that complicate research
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