Five Eastern European media regulators to fight disinformation together
The media regulators of Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Ukraine met in Warsaw and signed the Declaration on Cooperation and Mutual Support in the Fight Against Disinformation, thus cementing their intention to work together to counteract the influence of (primarily Russian) propaganda on the societies of these countries.
This was reported by the press office of the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting.
"This event is a clear manifestation of the Eastern European countries' joint commitment and determination to fight the challenges posed by disinformation and Russian propaganda," noted the head of the National Council, Olha Herasymyuk, after signing the document. "History once again proves that propaganda that builds on distorting reality can have impact on the society and be a key tool in the hands of those who seek to control the opinions of citizens."
According to Maciej Świrski, the head of the National Broadcasting Council of the Republic of Poland, the signing of the Declaration a historic event. He thanked the NCTRB for supporting the initiative and their efforts to implement it.
As the NCTRB notes, Russia's war on Ukraine has significantly changed the geopolitical situation in Europe, and modern technologies for digital communication have diversified the ways of accessing information both in terms of creating content and consuming it. They have been used for unbridled spread of unverified messages that form a misleading image of the world, differentiate and antagonize social groups and result in distrust both towards state institutions and towards society at large. This poses a threat to information security and the sovereignty of states.
"Disinformation constantly adapts to new tools if a certain distribution channel gets closed. Putting an end to such stealthy media should become our joint commitment. With this in mind, it is important to create a single platform to effectively pool our efforts and resources," said Olha Herasymyuk.
The Declaration stipulates that the parties will provide mutual support for analysis and prevention of the spread of multidimensional disinformation at the national, regional and international levels.
The countries intend to initiate joint action to train their citizens to detect, respond to and prevent disinformation, as well as to enable cooperation between European and national fact-checking platforms.
The signatories will also take action to develop unified media regulation mechanisms in the signatory countries to facilitate the preparation and compilation of joint assessments and stances on countering disinformation.
The Declaration enters into force on the day of its signing. It will be in place for an indefinite period; a signatory may withdraw at any time with prior notice to all others.
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