Ten Years Since Brexit: How Disinformation Shaped Voters' Choices and Changed EU Policy

This month marks ten years since the historic referendum in which the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. The Brexit campaign was not only a stage for loud political statements but also an arena where various manipulations in the information space were widely employed.

The fact-checking project "Euranet" has reviewed the methods used to influence voters' decisions. These methods included misleading statistics and disinformation spread through social networks. Particularly prominent were claims about immigration and economic benefits that were often not based on facts.

The study also analyzed how the lessons learned during Brexit prompted the European Union to take combating disinformation more seriously. The EU introduced stricter rules for social media platforms and funded fact-checking initiatives to prevent similar manipulation from affecting future elections.