A number of countries in Europe ranked misinformation as one of its top five risks, due its ability to influence voter intentions and harm the wider geopolitical environment.
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00:00Misinformation is the biggest short-term risk to the world.
00:08Misinformation and disinformation will be the top risk to countries around the world
00:13over the next two years, the World Economic Forum has revealed in its annual global risk report.
00:19The WEF surveyed hundreds of experts worldwide and found that false and misleading content
00:24is seriously harming the geopolitical environment in a number of ways.
00:28It enables foreign entities to affect voter intentions, it can sow doubt among the public
00:34about what is happening in conflict zones and it can be used to tarnish the image of
00:39products or services from another country. A number of countries in Europe ranked
00:43misinformation as one of its top five risks, according to the WEF.
00:47These include the Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Sweden.
00:52Other European countries such as France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the UK
00:58also rank it highly, often in the top ten. It's becoming increasingly hard to know where
01:03to turn for true information, according to the report, with political and societal
01:08polarisation skewing narratives and distorting facts. Respondents in high-income countries are
01:14generally more likely to express concern about the risk of misinformation over the next two years
01:19than respondents in lower-income countries, according to the report,
01:23although there are some exceptions. People worried about disinformation also
01:27often highlight societal polarisation as one of the most severe risks in the same time frame,
01:32with poor quality content and lack of trust in information sources
01:36continuing to present a threat to societies. Experts have repeatedly said that the best
01:41way to protect yourself from misinformation is to stick to impartial, well-established
01:45news outlets, such as news agencies, to keep on top of the most accurate information.