MOSCOW - The Western world remains the primary producer of disinformation, and fake news has become a "pandemic" in the contemporary era, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at the "Dialogue about Fakes 3.0" International Forum on Wednesday.

The main producers of fake news, the inventors of systems for spreading disinformation, are undoubtedly the Western world, Zakharova said, adding that they are also the masterminds behind information warfare.

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She noted that the originally planned Russia-US engagements in Budapest have been hindered by anonymous sources, disinformation, and leaks from some media outlets.

Zakharova pointed out that artificial intelligence (AI) can be used as a tool to influence people's minds, and some Western countries are attempting to leverage AI to consolidate inequality between nations and deprive other countries of their digital sovereignty.

Experts from 80 countries participated in the forum, discussing topics such as generative AI and deepfake technology, key challenges in the era of disinformation, and disinformation in the field of science and education.