It is important to create a stable information space, including by involving young people in promoting media literacy among those around them, said the executive director of the Foreign Policy Association (APE) Natalia Stercul. At a news conference hosted by IPN, Natalia Stercul stressed the need to develop measures to combat attacks aimed at discrediting the electoral system and the European path of the Republic of Moldova.
The APE executive director reminded that Moldova is heading for parliamentary elections, and media and electoral literacy can bring decent results and contribute to the advancement of the European path and, finally, to the country's accession to the European Union.
Young people are well informed about disinformation and know concretely what they would like to do in the digital space. At least this is what the media literacy training sessions organized in Moldova by the Foreign Policy Association, in partnership with the People in Need organization, showed. Natalia Stercul said that the participants in the sessions expressed their desire to organize more interactive events related to online space protection methods, especially on social media. There is an increased interest among young people in the creation of videos, as well as tools that identify "fabricated" video content.
The executive director of the NATO Information and Documentation Center Ion Tăbârță said that the Republic of Moldova has had, since its creation, a divided society, which is why it becomes fertile ground for disinformation campaigns. Moreover, there are still social and ethnic groups that are not fully integrated into Moldovan society, which also facilitates the spread of disinformation.
Ion Tăbârță also said that efforts have been made lately to reduce the phenomenon of disinformation. Media sources that try to deal with disinformation, to correctly inform the citizens of Moldova appeared. A special institution was also created to communicate strategically with society and combat disinformation.
Viorica Țîcu, strategic programs director at the European Institute of Political Studies of Moldova, said that the defense of the information space of the Republic of Moldova is a national strategic imperative. Although, at the moment, the phenomenon of disinformation diminished, the actions must be continued, through the efforts of all citizens.
According to Watchdog expert Andrei Curăraru, cooperation with regional media is fundamental, especially in the north and south of the Republic of Moldova, "where the problem of disinformation is more acute than in the capital city." "More than 60% of the citizens of the Republic of Moldova watch TV every day. In the south of the country, this figure reaches 80% and there we have the problem of further retransmission of channels of an aggressor state," said Andrei Curăraru.
Note: IPN Agency offers the right of reply to persons who consider that they were targeted in the news articles based on the statements of the organizers of this press conference, including by facilitating the organization of another press conference under similar conditions.
