political system announced that the next wave of technologies from the 4th Industrial Revolution will drastically change economies and societies with negative consequences. Cyber-attacks have become a common danger to individuals and businesses, ranking seventh as the most probable risk, eighth as the most striking risk, and second as the most worrying risk in carrying out business activity globally over the next 10 years (World Economic Forum, 2020b: 60).

The Eurobarometer examined the extent to which fake news is perceived by European Union citizens as a problem for their country and for democracy in general, and concluded that there is a widespread view across Europe that we are facing a major threat. In Spain, 51% of those surveyed consider it a very serious problem, above the European average of 44%. If one adds this percentage to another 37% who consider it a serious problem, an aggregate total of 88% of the Spanish population are concerned about the level of danger of disinformation and manipulation (European Commission, 2018).

Fake news grew by 365% in 2017, generating serious reputational damage to institutions and companies (Canvas, 2018). The solutions proposed have been aimed at two of the main actors involved: firstly, the owners of social networks, who have been asked to abandon their position as mediators and take responsibility for the content published and shared by their users, as well as for their security and privacy. The second possible solution places the focus on companies and their managers in leading the change (Corporate Excellence, 2018). The European Commission has encouraged companies to sign a Code of Best Practice on Disinformation (2018). The purpose of the code is to unify actions that signatories can implement for the purpose of addressing challenges related to disinformation. The measures proposed in the document include withholding advertising revenue from those who adulterate information, closing false accounts, clearly identifying political propaganda, ensuring transparency and verification of content, and so on. 

4. Disinformation, a challenge to corporate reputation

One should bear in mind that corporate reputation means trust in the organisation. The Edelman Trust Barometer (2019a) has warned that society has a decreasing level of trust in organisations. The report also warns of a social problem we are facing by revealing that 73% of citizens are concerned that disinformation, fake news, and digital bots are a modern weapon of negative propaganda. There is no clear way to conduct fact-checking that would allow us to quickly discern what is true and what is false, and as a result, trust in business worldwide is only around 56%. Consequently, companies must struggle to find the best way to deal with fake news and disinformation campaigns due to their complexity and invasiveness (Edelman, 2019b).

Communication analysts and consultants, as well as consulting firms specialising in corporate risk, have long been meticulously analysing a possible disinformation crisis. These companies have approached the subject and its consequences from a professional point of view, aware that new types of relationships with public opinion have emerged and that alternative means of information have been consolidated. Meanwhile, traditional channels have lost influence due to the rise of new communication channels such as YouTube, WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook Chat, Twitter, and Instagram, which are among the most heavily used media. This new way of communicating implies an opportunity and