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Article by Sofia Craveiro
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Tiago Sigorelho
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Digital Inês Roque
Communication by Carolina Esteves e Margarida Marques
16.02.2026
Michal Kovačič is one of the most famous and respected talk show hosts in Slovakia. In June 2024, the then moderator of the debate program 'On the screen', shown on the country's largest commercial channel, TV MarkizaMichal Kovačič was dismissed from his duties. Allegedly, his removal was a form of retaliation for the criticism and denunciations of internal pressure that the journalist publicly made against the channel and its management during the broadcast of the program. “Right now, Slovakia is struggling against the 'Orbánization' of our TV stations. The future of the national broadcaster RTVS [state channel] is being debated publicly, but in reality, the struggle is everywhere. It's happening calmly and quietly,” stated Michal Kovačič. The program was suspended for a time, but returned to the air after some time with a new team.
Kovačič was referring to the dismantling of Slovakia's public television, which was underway at the time. Prime Minister Robert Fico claimed that RTVS was biased and subjective. The accusation was part of a broader false narrative, fueled by members of the government, which alleged that independent media were morally responsible for the gun attack Fico suffered, as it occurred precisely on the day the parliamentary debate on the future of public television began. "Many of you sowed this hatred," said Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj-Eštok, referring to the media, at a press conference. "Because of you, four-time Prime Minister Robert Fico, the most important statesman in modern Slovak history, is currently fighting for his life," stated Lubos Blaha, Vice-President of Parliament and member of SMER-SD.
The climate of animosity against journalists was further reinforced by videos circulating on the internet where, allegedly, the gunman who shot Fico claimed to have been motivated by the changes the government intended to implement at RTVS.
All of this was used by the government to justify the dismantling of the public channel, which, after about two months of debate in parliament – and under strong popular opposition – was approved. RTVS was thus transformed into Slovak Television and Radio (STVR), whose editorial line is now controlled by the government.
However, attacks by politicians and government members on media outlets and journalists did not begin here. The ruling SMER-SD party has maintained a tense relationship with the media since the assassination of the journalist from... NewsJán Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová, in 2018. This event led to Robert Fico's resignation as prime minister.
After returning to power in 2023, Fico almost immediately announced "actions" against the media, which he called "liberal," deeming them "enemies" and "undesirable in the government cabinet." In February 2024, the penal code was amended, and the Special Prosecutor's Office, which was in charge of investigating the murders of Kuciak and Kušnírová, was dissolved. All of this led to large protests and demonstrations in Slovakia.
Robert Fico also threatened to withdraw advertising funds from media outlets most critical of his political actions, prevented certain publications from attending press conferences, and frequently directed unfounded accusations and insults at journalists.
The attacks led The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), a non-profit organization founded in 2015 in Leipzig, Germany, to warn of the weakening legal protections for media outlets and the increase in hostility towards journalists. “Government officials and politicians in Slovakia regularly insult and threaten journalists, creating a hostile environment that undermines public trust in the media and jeopardizes the physical safety of professionals,” reads the statement. release published in December 2024 on the organization's official page.
The text lists specific situations, such as... Press conference held on October 8, 2024 in Brezno, in which Prime Minister Robert Fico accused journalists of the headlines. Denník N, Denník SME e News He accused them of being "possessed by the devil" and "bloodthirsty cretins," again blaming them for the gun attack he suffered in 2024.
Given this scenario, Slovakia has fallen significantly in the World Press Freedom Index, published by Reporters Without Borders. In 2025, the country was ranked 38th, compared to 29th the previous year, out of a total of 180 countries and territories analyzed. This is the lowest position Slovakia has achieved since becoming a democracy. For example, Portugal is in 8th place and Germany in 11th.
Simultaneously, Fico's government also carried out a series of restructurings and legislative changes in the area of culture, which materialized in the removal of officials from museums and performance centers, including the directors of the Slovak National Theatre and the Institute of Cultural Policy, who were dismissed. Matej Drlicka, former director of the National Theatre, told the agency. France Presse that the Minister of Culture, Martina Šimkovičová, intended to "create an era of fear, to reintroduce the communist era of the 1970s".
“Some of these institutions were completely destroyed. In two years, they almost damaged the entire cultural infrastructure. It was truly a harsh, very harsh, and very rapid attack on cultural institutions,” says Monika Kompaníková, a writer and editor, who is worried about the future. “I fear what will happen next. I think it will take a very, very long time to restore what they damaged. And I don’t see any progress,” she laments.
These attacks on independent journalism in Slovakia are inseparable from the spread of disinformation, a problem that has become increasingly worrying in recent years. This "ecosystem" began to take shape in the country in 2014 and has diversified since then, but it was only from 2020 onwards that it was taken seriously, as described in the report. Disinformation Landscape in Slovakia, published in September 2023 by the non-profit organization EU Disinfo Lab, which mentions the “infodemic” as something inseparable from the war in Ukraine and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Political actors have been key players in the spread of misinformation, "thanks to their visibility, their ability to attract and engage the public, and to shape discussions on social issues," according to the same source. "Through politicians, disinformation narratives enter circulation." mainstream of the information, it reads.
Consider the example of Peter Kotlar, a member of parliament from the far-right nationalist SNS party (Slovenská Národná Strana, Slovak National Party), which is part of the governing coalition, and an orthopedic surgeon. Kotlar was appointed by the government to conduct an inquiry into the management of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a series of press conferences held between March and April 2025, he presented his conclusions: mRNA vaccines are part of a global conspiracy to alter people's DNA, and therefore their use should be prohibited. "The integrity of Slovak genetic heritage has been compromised," he declared, without any valid scientific evidence.
“Moderna and Pfizer have turned vaccinated people into genetically modified organisms, they have modified people like corn, without their knowledge,” the official told reporters at a press conference on March 13.
But how did we get here?
We went to a quaint café in the Slovak capital, near the iconic Michalská Brána (St. Michael's Gate), for a meeting with journalist Victor Breiner, founder of the platform. Infosecurity, who then shared his perspective on the origins of the problem with us.
"I was in Kyiv [Ukraine] during the Maidan [massacre] [in 2014], when snipers Russians – we know today that they were Russians – killed around 110 people [during protests against the pro-Russian government of Viktor Yanukovych, then Prime Minister of Ukraine]. I spent approximately a month, walking around 16 hours a day on foot, talking to people who were outraged by what happened,” recounts the journalist, who at the time worked as freelancer for a series of German titles.
A few weeks later, he moved to the Donbass region, where he found populations without any access to major Ukrainian media outlets. "They had been fed by Russian state television and media for six to eight months and had completely changed their perspective," recounts the journalist specializing in security, who has also served as a consultant and department director at the Ministry of Defense of the Slovak Republic.
The population the journalist refers to lives near the border with Russia, forming part of a Russian minority group. “They remain Ukrainian citizens,” he clarifies. “But I saw these people genuinely believing there was a fascist plot in Kiev and that the grandparents of the German Nazis had returned to finish the job they couldn’t complete eighty years ago.” The contrast with the Maidan protesters was evident.
This on-the-ground experience led the journalist to see the effects of Russian disinformation in a new light, a web that extends to various countries in Central and Eastern Europe, with particular emphasis on Slovakia, one of the biggest targets of the Kremlin's hybrid threats, according to the report. Russian Embassy in the Slovak information Space – Case study of narratives and networks from 2024, from the think-tank GLOBSEC.
According to the source, the “Russian influence operations” are part of a broader strategy of reshaping perceptions to reduce support for Ukraine and create divisions in European society. The result, in the case of Slovakia, is a decrease in the perception of Russia as a threat to national security, which fell from 69% to 49% in 2024, according to the document. “Furthermore, only 41% of Slovak respondents blame Russia for the war in Ukraine, the lowest percentage among Central and Eastern European countries. Meanwhile, 51% attribute responsibility to Ukraine – due to the alleged oppression of Russian-speaking populations – or to Western provocation, underscoring the success of Kremlin-backed narratives in distorting reality and sowing confusion.”
It's worth taking a moment for a brief historical and social context.
Closeness to Putin's Russia versus Membership in the European Union – and consequently, adherence to so-called “Western” values of promoting diversity and inclusion – is one of the most complex and polarizing issues in Slovak society.
In part, this can be explained by the turbulent history of this nation. In the 20th century, Slovakia went from Nazi rule – materialized through the puppet government of the priest Jozef Tizo – to the communism of the USSR, ending up on the eastern side of the Iron Curtain when Europe was divided after the Second World War. All this happened while the borders were shared with what is now the Czech Republic.
Czechoslovakia was formed after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and lasted from 1918 to 1992. Even today, the two states consider themselves "brothers," and the positive perception that Slovaks have of Czechs is noticeable in any conversation with local residents, although there are many differences in economic indicators and quality of life.
One aspect worth highlighting is that, for a significant portion of the Slovak population, communist rule was synonymous with urban and industrial development. "Some people I spoke to personally [stated] that if it weren't for socialism or communism, we wouldn't have roads, hospitals, etc.," tour guide Jakub Hanzel tells us, while showing us some examples of communist-era buildings that still stand in the city of Bratislava.
In fact, positive sentiments towards Russia persist in Slovakia, as described in the aforementioned report. Disinformation Landscape in Slovakia, from EU DisinfoLab. “[These] are linked to the idea of Pan-Slavism and deepen vulnerability to Russian propaganda regarding the war in Ukraine, a neighboring country of Slovakia. The situation is also exploited by the Russian Embassy in Slovakia, which is extremely active in information and influence operations,” says the same source.
This nostalgia leads a third of Slovaks (33%) to believe that their lives would be better under communism, according to a poll published in November 2025 by the Focus Agency (FOCUS – Center for Social and Market Analysis). The same source – which conducted the survey between October 13 and 21 with a sample of 1.028 respondents – indicates that, in the case of voters for the ruling SMER-SD party, the percentage rises to 55%. Voters for progressive and opposition parties – PS, SaS, KDH, Hnutia Slovensko and Demokrati – mostly think the opposite, that is, life under communism would be worse.
There are also generational differences. In the case of young people up to 24 years old, only 7% say they prefer communism. Among people over 65, the percentage is 48%. This paradigm serves as the backdrop for a significant portion of the misinformation that is currently being disseminated in the country.
One example: at the end of 2025, the idea that meat sold in Slovakia during the Soviet communist regime was of better quality compared to the supposedly "watery meat" sold today was spread through social media. This information is obviously false since, "food in the 1980s often contained heavy metals or chemicals, and some of the meat came from animals that would not pass current inspections. Today's meat is actually safer, more rigorously controlled and subject to European standards," reads a [source not specified]. XNUMX article, posted on the website Demagog.sk, which is dedicated to fact-checking of political statements and false ideas propagated in the digital context.
The main consequence of this is the polarization of society, particularly regarding issues related to values that underlie the European Community project. This is the conclusion drawn from more than a dozen interviews with journalists, activists, and researchers in the country. online and during our seven-day stay in Bratislava.
According to Domician Zahorjan, a security analyst at the NEST Institute (Institute for New Security Threats), this is also evident in election results, with no clear majorities for any party, and in opinion polls. The level of disinformation sponsored by politicians would, in the expert's opinion, be a matter of great controversy in other countries, but in Slovakia it is almost normalized, precisely because of the prevailing polarization. "The fact that [disinformation] has become government policy, or at least is disseminated by top figures who propagate these ideas and share the [false] narratives, is making them [the norm]." mainstream".
Katarína Klingová agrees: “Over the years, these polarizing disinformation narratives have become central, that is, they have been popularized and have become the core of political discourse,” says the senior research fellow at the Globesec Policy Institute in Bratislava. "There's no need to search for these narratives and conspiracy theories [on obscure websites] anymore; you just turn on the television and they're there." he adds.
According to political scientist Pavol Babos, the dissemination of misinformation by Robert Fico and other members of the executive branch is a political strategy adapted to the current context. A concrete example is the current Slovak Prime Minister's position on vaccination: in 2020 and 2021, Robert Fico was a strong critic of vaccination against COVID-19. Despite the proven effectiveness of mRNA vaccines in controlling the pandemic, Fico harshly criticized the then-government for following the recommendations of the EU and the World Health Organization. He did so because he was in the opposition, the expert believes.
“He had to use every opportunity to weaken the government, and since the big topic was Covid-19 and the government was acting responsibly, joining other European countries in the vaccination strategy, Fico had to take the opposite position for political reasons,” he says. “I am convinced that if he were prime minister at that time, he would support vaccination.”
In the bar of the main building of Comenius University, an imposing rounded structure on the corner of Šafárikovo Square in the center of Bratislava, the professor of political science summarized for us the political trajectory of the current prime minister, highlighting how he almost reversed his political positions to return to power.
Although his party, SMER-SD, positions itself as left or center-left, the conservative and nationalist positions adopted in recent years are common to the far-right, to the point that the party was expelled from the socialist group in the European Parliament (PE), for violating its principles. “It’s difficult to understand why these ideologies don’t have rigid limits. Besides, Fico and his party were never strictly ideological. What they always wanted was to gain as much power as possible,” says Pavol Babos, while stirring his coffee.
So, “when they started, they wanted to play with the idea of being liberals, they wanted something similar to the Third Way, inspired by Tony Blair. That didn't work in Slovakia, so he waited and basically moved to social democracy, but even then he had some problems, [namely] in the European Parliament, even before 2010. He promoted public policies that were basically social-democratic, but more in a rural-industrial sense, not in the modern sense of 21st-century social democracy.”
This means that although he defended the rights of industrial workers, he was never a defender of minority rights, environmental protection measures, or even women's rights, for example. Hence, the researcher is reluctant to speak of a total contradiction, although he acknowledges the existence of ambiguities and inconsistencies, such as the fact that SMER-SD commemorates Women's Day but simultaneously cultivates a misogynistic discourse.
The contradictions don't end there, as Robert Fico is also inconsistent regarding his position towards the EU. "It's a populist government, you could say, and there's a big difference between what's said at the level of European institutions and what's said at the national level," explains Domician Zahorjan, security analyst at the NEST Institute.
The expert notes that although Robert Fico claims to respect all geographies and to have a policy geared towards good relations with different countries and regions of the globe, his state visits and public pronouncements show a favoritism towards Russia.
Less than 900 meters from Comenius University, after a very short ride on a red tram along the iconic Štúrova Street, which connects the Old Town to the Danube River, we arrived at the editorial office of... DemagogueOn that floor of the glass building live different organizations, spread across rooms that blend together via a wide common corridor. The team that is dedicated to fact-checking – in a logic similar to the newspaper Polygraph Portuguese – is just one of them.
Founded in 2010, the Demagog.sk initially he dedicated himself only to fact-checking The political scene, with a special focus on the statements of elected officials, is a key element. At that time, although politicians could make false or misleading statements, they did not intentionally spread misinformation as happens today, journalists believe. This has made their work more difficult, as "it takes longer to refute than to say," explains Veronika Frankovská, coordinator of the collective.
Fact-checking has become more complex not only because of the increase in false or misleading claims, but also because journalistic scrutiny in political debate programs on television has weakened. “In recent years, politicians have begun to criticize channels and programs, as well as some specific journalists, and have started refusing to participate,” reports Veronika. Political debate has become poorer. Journalists have been subjected to pressure and, in some cases, have even been removed and replaced, as is the case of Michal Kovačič, described at the beginning of this report.
When commenting on this matter, the journalists from Demagogue They are unanimous: the debates have lost quality and politicians benefit from airtime with less questioning from moderators, who are less critical and incisive in their questions. Politicians now have an easier time, as they face less scrutiny in televised debates. "In a sense, we see it as even more important to look at what they say [and do the work of fact-checking“When they have an uninterrupted period of time to, at times, repeat narratives from Russian propaganda whose falsity has been proven by major newspapers time and time again,” explains Veronika Frankovská.
The false narratives spread in Slovakia are one of the factors contributing to fueling hatred against minority groups. The murder of non-binary youths Matúš Horváth and Juraj Vankulič is a tragic example of this.
The friends, aged 23 and 26 respectively, shared an interest in Asian culture. Matúš was in Bratislava to study Mandarin. Juraj was... visual merchandiserThey enjoyed anime, K-Pop, and dancing. As soon as they sat down to drink lemonade on a street bench next to the Tepláreň bar in the center of the Slovakian capital, a 19-year-old, Juraj Krajčík, approached them and fired several shots with a .45 caliber pistol. He then fled, with the weapon in his hand.
Hours later he was found dead by police in a park near his home. That same night he had posted a photo of himself on Twitter with the caption “Have one last selfieThe authorities concluded that he committed suicide.
On the afternoon of October 12, 2022, Krajčík had released online A 65-page antisemitic and white supremacist manifesto, in which he expressed his desire to carry out attacks against various minority groups. According to eyewitnesses, the shooter spent about 30 minutes observing the activity at the LGBTQI+ bar on Zámocká Street from a distance before opening fire. Matúš and Juraj, young non-binary individuals, were in the wrong place at the wrong time and became the fatal victims of his hatred. A young woman who worked at the bar was also injured by the gunfire but survived.
According to a an article Published on the investigative journalism platform. Balkan InsightThe young student was the son of a member of the far-right Vlasť (Fatherland) party – which failed to gain representation in parliament after the 2020 legislative elections – and which had strong LGBTQIfobic rhetoric, calling members of the community "sick," "decadent," and "perverted." The weapon he used belonged to his father, who kept several at home.
Following the attack, a wave of national outrage swept through Slovakia. Around 20 people gathered two days later for a vigil outside the Bratislava bar where the incident occurred. Marches and mobilizations were organized in other cities. President Zuzana Caputova wrote on Facebook that the assassination was the result of “stupid and irresponsible statements by politicians.” "We politicians are responsible for every word we speak, but many here recklessly fill the space with hatred.", he said.
Prime Minister Eduard Heger also stressed that "no form of white supremacy, racism and extremism against communities, including LGBTQIA+, can be tolerated." Nevertheless, prior to the 2020 elections, he was part of the informal group Christian Candidates which, among other things, advocated that civil unions should not be permitted between LGBTQI+ people.
For activist Peter Weisenbacher, the controversy was ephemeral and fruitless. In an interview with Gerador, on a cold, rainy October afternoon, sheltered in the small office that serves as headquarters for the Human Rights Institute in Bratislava, an organization he directs and co-founded in 2011, he explained how the wave of outrage following the Bratislava murders was brief and even that ended up being cut short by misinformation. A false narrative about the killer quickly spread, claiming he was a former boyfriend of one of the victims, with the double homicide perpetrated for passionate reasons. "It's obviously false, but a part of society believes it," which contributed to a devaluation of the tragedy, in the activist's view.
The political exploitation of LGBTQIfobic misinformation also “hasn’t changed,” says Peter Weisenbacher, who believes it has even increased. “The saddest part of all this is that it is not at all a reflection of [Slovak] society,” which he believes is not against the community, but rather very easily manipulated.
Longtime activist Peter Weisenbacher believes his work has been “definitely” affected by the spread of misinformation, a growing problem in the country that, he explains, is not new. “It started discreetly, on fringe websites, on Facebook and similar platforms. Then it spread to far-right Christian groups, then right-wing Christian groups linked to politics and politicians,” who claim to be against the so-called “gender ideology.” Derogatory comments about the LGBTQI+ community have become commonplace across the political spectrum. “It went to the…” mainstream "And now…", he laments.
The results are clear: less than three years after the attack in Bratislava, in September 2025 an amendment to the Slovak Constitution was approved so that only two “biologically determined” genders are legally recognized, with marriage considered a union between a cis man and a cis woman. The EU opened an infringement procedure, since, disregarding community law, the country assumes sovereignty in matters of “national identity”, “health”, “science”, “education” and “civil status”.
From a broader perspective, at the European level, it is recognized that misinformation is present in different countries, albeit with varying levels of incidence.
Alexandre Alaphilippe, director of EU DisinfoLab, states that it is not possible to identify a single country as the most serious case, since all reveal the impacts in different ways. “I think everyone is vulnerable. You just have to find the right spot,” he explains in an interview with Gerador. “Therefore, it’s not a question of vulnerability [per se"Some may be more resilient than others."
“Sometimes, the countries that are most protected can be the most vulnerable to a specific type of narrative at a given moment,” the expert adds. “For example, Finland is very good at media literacy, France is currently very good at exposing these types of [external] operations, but there is no single country that combines all of this and serves as a model for everyone.”
Furthermore, in Alexandre Alaphilippe's view, the biggest concern is not the spread of disinformation by countries like Russia, which always claims to have done so, but rather the fact that the platforms... online allowing false narratives to penetrate public debate. "Without this type of amplification, encouragement, and complicating factors, this wouldn't happen, or it would happen much less," he emphasizes. "Therefore, it's more a question of how disinformation is being promoted by a system." online which currently rewards this type of content, both politically and financially, more than the content itself is being produced.”
Given the widespread nature of misinformation, is it possible to identify commonalities between the situation in Slovakia and Portugal?
For now, the two contexts are not even comparable, although the worsening of the problem in our country is noticeable, believes João Canavilhas, a researcher at LabCom – the Communication Laboratory of the University of Beira Interior (UBI) who has been studying the dissemination of disinformation in recent election campaigns.
“What we have seen in recent elections is that there is always growth,” he says, referring to the 2024 European elections and the 2025 legislative elections, between which a 160% increase was recorded. João Canavilhas rejects alarmism, since initially only eight cases were registered. “It is an increase that, percentage-wise, is very large, but in terms of units it is not that much,” he emphasizes.
“In Portugal, what appears most often are fake polls or polls conducted by companies that are not accredited to do so,” explains the researcher. Fake news published by doctrinaire media outlets or content that imitates the graphic design of reliable media outlets, as well as fake or decontextualized videos, are also common.
The conclusions are the result of a study conducted by the Regulatory Authority for Social Communication (ERC) in partnership with UBI, in which researcher João Canavilhas played a prominent role. This study primarily analyzed publications by political parties on social media.
O Gerador was present at the presentation of the aforementioned report, entitled Disinformation in the 2025 Legislative Elections: Party Activity on Social Media This statement was made during the colloquium “Dynamics of Political Disinformation in Portugal: Media, Parties and Social Networks”, in September 2025, at the University of Beira Interior, Covilhã. On the sidelines of the session, the president of the ERC (Regulatory Entity for the Media), Helena Sousa, explained that the entity regulates media outlets, “it does not regulate political parties,” and can only analyze cases related to doctrinaire newspapers or false polls. Its intervention is therefore limited. “When there are limits to freedom of information, to freedom of expression, these limits must be very carefully considered,” said the official. “It is not up to the ERC to say what the limits are. These are established by law; it is up to the ERC to consider each case individually, since not all rights can be exercised to their full extent.”
A new study by Labcom, focusing on the presidential elections, revealed that disinformation content garnered over 8,3 million views on social media during the first round, with candidate André Ventura accounting for the largest percentage, at 82,4%.
Despite the increase in disinformation spread by political parties – with Chega at the forefront – João Canavilhas believes that the Portuguese reality is still far from countries like Slovakia or Hungary, for example, where "the processes were very quick" and have different contours, but he fears that the phenomenon may begin to gain some momentum.
"What seems to be happening here is a trend – and we are seeing it again in these elections – of attacking journalism," in an attempt to discredit "the greatest enemy of disinformation."
"Journalism is attacked with things that are easy to prove untrue, and everyone remains impassive and serene," laments João Canavilhas, who acknowledges that the problem will worsen in the near future.
