In a world where generating and disseminating highly credible but "fake" news is increasingly easy, democratic states must ponder how to ensure the free formation of opinions and protect citizens from foreign disinformation.

Since its inception in early 2022, the Swedish Psychological Defence Agency has been at the forefront of tackling these challenges. Established to protect Sweden's open democratic society, free opinion formation, and fundamental freedoms, the agency actively identifies, analyzes, prevents and counters foreign disinformation.

Our guest Mikael Tofvesson is Head of the Operations at the Swedish Psychological Defence Agency. Prior to his current role, he led the Counter Information Influence Section at the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency and spearheaded three task forces to shield Swedish and European Parliament elections from foreign information interference. 

Over lunchtime, he will elucidate psychological defense, outline the threats of foreign disinformation, and describe the tools and strategies Sweden has devised to combat it.

This staatskantine #61 with Mikael Tofvesson will take place on Thursday, April 25th, 12 - 1.15pm CET online (Zoom).

The event is aimed at public servants working in Switzerland and will be held in English.