Swedish embassy in Bucharest reacts to fake news in local media

The Embassy of Sweden in Bucharest has reacted in a Facebook post to several reports on the removal from its YouTube account of a video related to the former head of the Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) Laura Codruta Kovesi. The video was made for the ceremony where Kovesi was awarded Sweden’s Order of the Polar Star. The video showed regular people but also public personalities thanking the former prosecutor for her contribution to the fight against corruption. Last week, Kovesi was revoked from her post, by presidential decree, in accordance with the decision of the Constitutional Court (CCR). The reports the embassy pointed to claimed that the video was deleted because of her dismissal. The embassy labeled them as false and explained that the video was taken down in 2017, “several months after the ceremony, in the same way we regularly take down other material from different events that we put up to temporary promote different events the embassy organizes.” At the same time, it said it stood by the decision to honor Kovesi for her work against corruption.

The same Facebook post is accompanied by a guide on how to spot fake news, covering guidelines such as checking the news outlet, read the whole text, beyond the headline, checking the credibility of the author, double-checking the data presented or checking additional sources. In the post, the embassy also lists links to the reports of the media outlets that are spreading the “news” about the video deletion. These include Antena 3, Cotidianul, Evenimentul Zilei or stiripesurse.ro. Kovesi was awarded the title of Commander of the Order of the Polar Star by the King of Sweden in November 2016. Also in 2016, she received the Legion of Honor National Order’s Knight distinction from France’s Ambassador to Romania, Francois Saint-Paul, as recognition for her devotion in fighting corruption. In 2011, Kovesi received the French Republic’s Order of Merit. In April 2014, she was also given the “International Women of Courage” award by the US Embassy to Bucharest. Romanian appointed to EU group working on strategy against fake news Facebook starts anti-fake news campaign in Romania editor@romania-insider.com