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Civil Society Seeks Solutions to Secure the Information Space

27 October 2017
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În Moldova
The Republic of Moldova is increasingly exposed to threats and to new methods of manipulation in the information space, and the institutions responsible for countering these phenomena are not willing enough to fight them. The media legislation does not respond adequately to the challenges faced by Moldova in this respect, either. These are the conclusions made by the participants of the round table “Defense and Information Security Policies for Hybrid Threats,” organized on Thursday, October 26, by IDIS Viitorul.

The participants in the event – MPs, journalists and media experts – have come up with recommendations to diminish the effects of manipulation in the country’s information environment: strengthening state institutions, improving the legal framework and promoting media education in educational institutions.

The Executive Director of IDIS Viitorul, Igor Munteanu, pointed out that Moldova has been increasingly exposed to information-related risks and that the elements of hybrid warfare, in which propaganda and misinformation tools are being used, are frequently mentioned in talks.

According to MP Eugen Carpov, member of the European People’s Party of Moldova and of the National Security, Defense and Public Order Commission, in order to combat such phenomena it is necessary to improve the Broadcasting Code, to strengthen the broadcasting regulator in order to increase its effectiveness, and last but not least to have political stability.

Media expert and former presidential adviser Vlad Turcanu believes that people in Moldova are not seriously concerned about the phenomenon of propaganda. According to the expert, the Broadcasting Coordinating Council (BCC) does not work on the objectives stipulated in the broadcasting development strategy regarding support of local televisions. Turcanu believes that in order to improve the situation the BCC and the Supervisory Board of the public company Teleradio Moldova should act as independent institutions and not be subject to political control, while other state institutions should also be involved in fighting propaganda, including the Information and Security Service.

Corina Cepoi, director of the Internews representative office in Moldova, drew attention to the need to train media consumers in such a way that they can recognize true information from falsehood and learn more about disinformation. To fill this informational gap, the organization she runs will further support media education projects through schools and libraries. “Media education should be included not only as an optional course, but also as a compulsory object of study in schools,” Corina Cepoi stressed, pointing out that the efforts of Internews in Moldova are focused on achieving this level in education.

In the end, participants concluded that closer cooperation between civil society, the media and government is needed to fight information threats.