(FAKE) NEWS AS PART OF THE INFORMATION OPERATIONS: US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS 2020 – CASE STUDY

Nowadays there is no doubt that Internet media, especially social networks, have a great political, economic and security influence on the international political scene. Cyberspace has become a new war zone where (non) state actors govern. Although information operations have always been an integral part of the strategic military concept of warfare, today they are the modus operandi of another type of warfare even for the small actors. Fake news has a role to play in shaping public opinion and, by analogy represents the Damocles sword over democracy as a generally accepted civilization value. The trend of countering fake news is a project that unites national governments. It does so, by identifying fake news as a tool or instrument of information operations that threaten the democratic stability of the states. No country or government is immune to this type of media anomaly given that fake news, propaganda or populism (as a benign form of half-truth news) has always existed and is now an integral part of every cell of the online media. Countering fake news is subject to analysis to all security agencies and centers dealing with this issue. The 2020 US elections are being perceived as a second half of the 2016 presidential elections which left a dark mark on democracy and the credibility of the elections as an indispensable process. Four years later, again, the presidential election was marred by suspicions of numerous election irregularities and mutual accusations by the presidential candidates of spreading fake news. Moreover, cyber fights were transferred to the streets, which further burdened the political situation in the country. Undoubtedly, in the period that follows, governments of the great powers are to be facing the growing power of the "uncontrolled media", where non-state actors reign.