What a Human-Centred Approach Reveals About Disinformation Policies: The Baltic Case

The Baltic countries’ responses to disinformation are widely recognized for their effectiveness in balancing “hard” and “soft” approaches while upholding democratic values (Bleyer-Simon et al., 2024). This article argues for additional efforts and more focused approaches to sustain societal resilience amid increasing geopolitical uncertainties and national political and economic risks, resulting in challenges of a more “epistemic character,” such as growing information-related vulnerabilities, informational inequalities, and polarization. To expose inconsistencies and gaps in the current strategies and agendas for countering disinformation, the article proposes a human-centred approach based on the critical realist framework elaborated by Margareth Archer (1995, 2020). While Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have advanced beyond mere risk awareness in their national policies, this article argues that a more targeted approach is necessary—one that goes beyond the protective logic of securitization and toward evidence-informed awareness of the divergences and information-related inequalities among people.