The phenomenon of disinformation is nothing new. What distinguishes it today is the omnipresent presence of the Internet and social networks, which have radically transformed the way we access information.
The risk of polarization is that it generates a social fracture that could lead us to an all-or-nothing result. The vote would not be for the support or rejection of a political platform, but a tool to silence those voices with which we differ.
Today, authoritarian regimes are adjusting their tactics of oppression and restriction of freedom to the digital age in their effort to undermine democratic institutions and affect the exchange of ideas.
Twenty-first century democracies cannot ignore the lessons of Cold War disinformation campaigns, reformulated by their autocratic enemies in the current digital age.