Here is a humanized summary of the IBERIFIER report, expanded into six reflective paragraphs. — Disinformation is often described as a flood of falsehoods, but the work of IBERIFIER—one of the fifteen independent hubs that make up the European Digital Media Observatory—reveals something far more human and unsettling. Across nine quarterly briefs examining the spread of false narratives in Spain and Portugal, a clear image emerges: disinformation does not float randomly through the internet; it attaches itself to the moments that matter most to people. It clings to emergencies, political turbulence, and international crises, disguising itself as urgency, fear, or…

On Friday, October 16, the weather seemed to understand the occasion even better than some of the guests. The Washington DC region had spent the week shivering under an unusually cold spell, with gray skies and biting winds that made coats and scarves feel like necessities well before their time. Then, almost as if on cue, the clouds parted and the mercury climbed to an unseasonably warm 84 degrees Fahrenheit. The sun poured down over Frederick, Maryland, turning the late-autumn landscape into something closer to late summer. It was the kind of day that makes people walk a little slower,…