A Eurobarometer survey about protecting and promoting democracy that was published in November shone a spotlight on the thoughts and concerns of Maltese and EU citizens about the democratic process, and specifically the threats to it.

Survey participants were asked to select up to three points they feel are the most serious challenges to democracy in the European Union.

The top three points selected by both Maltese respondents and the wider EU respondents were (in order of Maltese respondents' highest answers) were: 1) Foreign information manipulation, interference and disinformation, including in the context of elections; 2) Growing public distrust towards democratic institutions and processes; and 3) Lack of transparency with regard to whether political content online is promoted through new technologies like AI.

As AI technology continues to advance, so do, for instance, the number of fake videos that we see online. There can be no doubt that the technology is and will be useful for us all, but the danger of misusing AI is ever present.

The onset of deepfake videos is concerning. How long until we see deepfakes of politicians which will be near impossible even for those with a trained eye to tell the difference between what is real and what is not?

So it is understandable that people are worried about foreign misinformation or disinformation being spread that could affect voters.

But as has been seen around the world, the issue is not just limited to foreign interference, and the spread of misinformation and disinformation in general, especially over social media, is a problem we have all witnessed. It is even sometimes spread by politicians themselves.

As technology progresses, the danger of that becoming even more widespread is of concern.  The Eurobarometer shows that 56% of Maltese respondents said that they think they were personally exposed to disinformation or other forms of information manipulation at least once a week

This is where the importance of media literacy comes in, and it must be included in education curriculums everywhere, supported by media literacy campaigns. But not only. We need more publicly available tools to help people identify what is fake and what is not, what is AI generated content, and what is not.

The same Eurobarometer survey shows that 89% of Maltese believe that it is at least fairly important that online platforms work to avoid the possible risks of manipulation of their services, for example via fake accounts or bots generated by AI aiming to disturb democracy. Online platforms hold a great deal of power nowadays, and they must do more to educate and inform their users of the dangers of disinformation, and promote trustworthy sources.

The point regarding growing public distrust towards democratic institutions and processes is also concerning. The issue could also be partially linked to disinformation and misinformation, but there are likely also deeper considerations to be made here. Are, for example, politicians losing touch with their electorate? Are people in Malta growing distrustful because of the number of scandals the country has seen? Do they feel like politicians are talking at them, rather than for them? More information is needed to pinpoint what is causing that distrust, and action must be taken to bolster trust in democratic institutions.