Author(s): Jeanette Serritzlev, Royal Danish Defence College
Reviewer(s): Thomas Hedin, TjekDet.dk
Updated on 16/12/2024
Introduction
- The threat from destabilizing activities including disinformation is a part of the public debate and awareness in Denmark. However, the number of publicly attributed disinformation cases specifically targeting a Danish audience or Danish interests remains low.
- In the public Joint National Threat Assessments of foreign influence before the European Parliament election in June 2024, the focus was held on Russia on China, concluding it to be ‘less likely’ that these actors would prioritize interference in the Danish election. Post the election, the security services confirmed that no systematic and coordinated influence was identified, quoting the head of counterintelligence from the Danish Security and Intelligence Service: “We continuously see Russian attempts to influence the Danish population, but in connection with the election to the European Parliament we have not seen, what we describe as a systematic and coordinated influence.”
- It was the third public threat assessment of election interference and the first time China was mentioned. China constitutes a threat in different ways including espionage and cyber but looking at the public intelligence threat assessments in general, Russia remains the largest disinformation threat. Consequently, this will be the focus of this paper.
- As the information environment crosses borders, so does disinformation through various digital platforms, online gaming communities and social media. Russian disinformation and influence campaigns targeting other audiences can still have an effect on a Danish audience. Furthermore, target audiences for disinformation campaigns do not only have to be segmented by nationality. It can also be influenced by other variables, such as political views, media consumption and attitudes to global events.
- Like other European countries, the COVID-19 pandemic sparked conspiratorial thinking in Denmark. The pattern well known in other countries was also seen in the Danish information sphere: Former anti-vaccine voices took a strong anti-Ukraine stand after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Denmark has been a strong supporter of Ukraine since the beginning of the war, and the support for Ukraine remains strong among the Danish population in all public surveys. Nevertheless, anti-Ukraine sentiments and appeasement rhetoric are frequent on Danish social media. How much is pushed by Russian or pro-Russian actors, and how much is generated organically, remains unanswered. To sum up, Denmark does not seem to be a prioritized target of Russian influence, but it is not an unknown land on the Russian disinformation map of the world. In that case, the emblematic cases presented would simply not exist.
To gain a more accurate understanding of the disinformation landscape of Denmark, click on the button below.
We have more European country factsheets. Curious to discover the others? Click here.
Supported by:
The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of EU DisinfoLab. This factsheet does not represent an endorsement by EU DisinfoLab of any organisation.
