Earlier today, Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister and government representative Pavlos Marinakis spoke about the speed and spread of fake news through social media. at a conference on disinformation.

Speaking with concrete examples, Mr. Marinakis explained what happened when he was asked, about two weeks ago, after the concert about the tragedy in Tempi, with him replying that:no one can understand the pain of relatives, they have the right to react as they believe“, while he himself shortly after was attacked by an unknown girl, through his page, telling him that it is a shame to insult the people who went to a concert for Tempi.

The deputy minister, in addition to the prime minister, also stood by another report, by a radio producer, that Mr. Marinakis had told him that: “those who organized the concert for Tempi are washing Hamas and exploiting human suffering». Mr. Marinakis, stressing about the organization of the concert for the tragedy in Tempi that “the organizers are relatives who experienced the absolute pain”, added in support of the above that a week ago, another journalist on a very large channel had said exactly the same, that: “fortunately Andreas Papandreou is not alive, because he would be accused for holding the flag of Palestine, of washing Hamas. So it’s a shame in the name of this anger, this sadness, this utter misery that some people are trying to exploit human suffering, not those holding a flag, some others with their rhetoric to wash away Hamas and then I also referred to the tragedy which these people experience in Palestine as well as in Israel».

The following is the full speech of Mr. Marinakis:

“I congratulate you on another initiative. I also want to congratulate the Board of Directors and the President of the National Radio and Television Council who grace the ESR with their presence and in fact I have the luck, the honor as Deputy Minister next to the Prime Minister, responsible for press and information matters to work with these people who they are in the administration of the ESR and of course with our dear President and as a lawyer it is an even greater honor for me.

Seeing this special image, so many young children, so many young people in the room, I don’t want to say too much, but because it is perhaps the subject which, both from the object and from my capacity and politics, after the honorable choice of the Prime Minister to have the duties of the Government Spokesperson and the Deputy Minister for the Press, as well as my legal capacity, I want to say two words to you.

Because I am addressing a generation that may be the one that will be called upon in the coming years to study, to work, to face the difficulties of life with this new reality of disinformation fully established which as we grew older we began to see it develop with great fast pace. Now it’s developed, it’s here, it’s here to stay and it’s one of our first priorities, whether we have a reason from a profession, or from an engagement with the public, or, above all, if someone deals with journalism, to deal with it.

And I will talk to you with an example, because I think examples are much more powerful than long hours of analysis. A few days ago I received a message on my page where a young girl, not knowing me, made an attack on me that it is “shameful to insult people who went to a concert about Tempi” and that “we are not marketers, we don’t exploit human suffering and we have a right to go to a concert.” A while ago, after seeing the delisting about me, a radio producer, journalist at a radio station said that I said: “those who organized the concert for Tempi are washing Hamas and exploiting human suffering».

Parenthetically, the organizers are relatives who experienced the ultimate pain. A week ago, another journalist on a very large channel said exactly the same thing, that: “luckily Andreas Papandreou is not alive, because he would be accused because he was holding the flag of Palestine, of washing Hamas.”

Obviously, none of this has happened the way they make it out to be. I had said in a question I received about two weeks ago, after the concert about the tragedy in Tempe, the Tempe accident, that: “no one can understand the pain of the relatives, they have the right to react as they believe”.

So it’s a shame in the name of this anger, this sadness, this utter misery that some people are trying to exploit human suffering, not those holding a flag, some others with their rhetoric to wash away Hamas and then I also referred to the tragedy which these people experience in Palestine as well as in Israel.

The “useful” have come, the “beneficial” in quotation marks, anything but useful are those rushing to create the climate of division.

And you know, lies travel very fast, with a Tik Tok video of a few seconds.

The truth takes time, because the truth requires arguments, persuasion and especially when it is a charged subject, a very charged subject, which has to do with the death of young children, then things are even more difficult. We have accepted that this is our role, this is our job, to respond.

To respond to attacks, even to respond many times to slander. However, in order for all of this to be done correctly, we must support the media, the institutions, institutions such as the National Radio and Television Council and set limits. We obviously have no ability to put limits on criticism, we have no ability, on the contrary, we have an obligation to shield it, to put limits on opinion, comments, even if they are very aggressive.

But we have an obligation, the State, journalists, institutions, to stand up to those who distort reality or create lies from scratch in order to cultivate a climate of toxicity in society. So, I am addressing one, maybe even two generations younger than me, although usually at these events I was used to being among the youngest.

Let me tell you that our country lost about 15 years fighting. He wasted about 15 years accusing each other of whether or not he is a traitor or a Nazi. We got to the point where we were trying to figure out which country to go to, because we couldn’t work in our own country.

We have an obligation, therefore, to return to the era where we will simply disagree and at the same time, as he had said, and I will paraphrase the phrase of the late Pavlos Bakoyannis, we will coexist.

And since there are also aspects of fake news and misinformation through modern forms that are not just dangerous politically, they are dangerous nationally, there you can be sure that this Government and the Prime Minister personally, as you saw in his statements yesterday, we will stand no just opposite, we will fight them to the end. We are not going to allow anyone to use their own practices and tactics, whether it is a newspaper, whether it is a media outlet, whether it is a far-right party, by creating a problem in the defense of our national interests, of Greece, of of our Cyprus and all that for fifty years many different governments have defended, without any of them, except for one, backing down.

I wish we could see many such halls, with such a composition of audience, that people with absolute experience, like the President, like Mr. Politis and all the others I see here, coexist with the future and the hope of this place, the younger generations.

Thank you very much.»