In European Parliament plenary sessions this past week, several European nations voiced concerns that Russian and ISIS propaganda were influencing the spread of radicalism across their countries and called for a task force to help address these “hybrid” campaigns. The Finland, United States, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Sweden and the Baltic countries have supported ideas to create a “centre of excellence” located in Helsinki that would start to address the disinformation issue being used to radicalize citizens of the EU. These countries see this propaganda as a Russian technique for controlling the outcomes of elections. Germany in particular has raised concerns about Russia tampering with election results, mirroring concerns in the U.S. that Russian hackers could have influenced election results in states with electronic polling.

In an age where social media can help spread fake news and propaganda and where foreign hackers pose a threat to the credibility of election results, it seems right that the European Union would set aside time and resources to try and address this problem. As countries like Russia and groups like ISIS continue to wage an “information war” against the EU or U.S., more vigilance will be necessary to ensure the democratic process is not being interfered with.

As the media community tries to figure out how Donald Trump won the presidential election despite the widespread conviction that Hillary Clinton would dominate the polls, one of the theories that has been circulating is that fake Facebook news played a large part in influencing America’s vote. While Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has denied these claims, saying that Americans are more likely to vote based on experience than media exposure, it is hard to deny that social media and fake news did not influence the general public in some ways.

But America is not the only country that is influenced by fake Facebook news. In an article published by the New York Times, journalists Paul Mozur and Mark Scott discuss how countries around the world, including (but not limited to) Germany, the Philippines, and Indonesia, fake news has become a widespread issue. Richard Heydarian, a political analyst in the Philippines, criticized Facebook for reacting too slowly to curb the dissemination of fake news sources. In this specific case, protecting the citizens from faux Facebook news becomes especially important because the Philippines are one example of a country that receives most of its news from Facebook and Facebook alone. World leaders including Angela Merkel and Barack Obama have requested that the company find a means to protect users from misinformation in some way. One suggestion from Merkel was to publish the algorithm that ranks news stories so that there is more transparency within the company.

Leading up to Election Day, several world leaders expressed a distrust in presidential candidate and now President-Elect Donald Trump. Following Election Day though, several leaders set aside their ideological differences in interest of maintaining their relationship with the United States. Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto didn’t offer congratulations to Trump but he did say he hopes to work together to create a strong U.S.-Mexico relationship. Other world leaders, including United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, offered advice to the American public on how to proceed. Ki-Moon reminded the American people that “it is worth recalling and reaffirming that the unity in diversity of the United States is one of the country’s greatest strengths. I encourage all Americans to stay true to that spirit.”

International media had a more visceral reaction to the election results. Political cartoonists had a field day on Wednesday, depicting Trump as a meteor, bull in a China shop, boxer that had beat up American democracy, and more in their cartoons.

As the world tries to anticipate how U.S. foreign relations will change come Jan. 20, politicians try to keep their responses measured and respectful, while the media and international citizens allow their true feelings to shine through. Whether each country’s people and leaders are pro- or anti-Trump, one thing is certain: the next four years will redefine international communications and policy in ways we can’t fully predict anymore.

Through class readings and discussions, we’ve grown to understand that the growth of the Internet (and all the other sectors that have grown because of it) has clearly not benefitted all countries and communities. In fact, in most cases, it has widened the divide between rich and poor and between powerful states and fragile ones.

Still, whether it’s through cognitive dissonance or unbridled optimism, I like to find ways in which people use new technologies in order to improve the quality of life in communities that need it most. This week I read about a couple of ways that small companies are seeking creative solutions to age old problems.

The first one is an app that connected Indonesian citizens to a network that allowed them to find resources and relief in a post-natural-disaster period. Because of Indonesia’s vulnerability to natural disaster, this kind of tool could provide a huge benefit to its residents. Another project, also funded through the international development program, Amplify, involves using tech to map slums in South Africa, giving families without an address a way to clearly place themselves and opening the door for emergency access to health care. Both of these projects use modern tech to help fill gaps when infrastructure is lacking. Although they might not end the problems that weak infrastructure has caused, they create a temporary means of relief for communities that need it most.