Moldova: Coordination Key to Counter Disinformation

Thursday, 18 July, 2024

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IWPR

Institute for War & Peace Reporting

IWPR workshops across Moldova have provided participants with the tools to spot and effectively combat disinformation ahead of key political events in the country.

Moldova will hold three rounds of elections over the next year, which will be crucial to the future of its European integration process. This autumn will see a presidential vote and constitutional referendum to join the European Union, and voters will select their new parliament in 2025. Surveys show that most Moldovans support the country’s pro-EU path, yet intense disinformation campaigns, largely fueled and financed by Moscow, reveal a complex information warfare.

As the vote draws nearer, IWPR convened local journalists and NGOs alongside national and international experts to discuss and share experiences tackling disinformation, within the framework of the Countering Disinformation in Moldova (CDM) project, funded by the United Kingdom’s Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF).

One roundtable discussion, moderated by IWPR Country Director Merdijana Sadovic, centred on challenges that the national media will face in coming months amid the potential impact of Russian propaganda ahead of the ballot.

Valeriu Pasa, chairperson of WatchDog MD, stressed that the referendum would be critical to cement Moldova’s European course in the face of Russian interference.

“It is even more important than presidential elections, which is why the Kremlin's efforts will be focused on discouraging people from voting for EU,” he said, adding that politicians and journalists would likely face smear campaigns attacking their abilities and credibility.  

International media expert Samir Krilic remarked that “disinformation is a wide-ranging and systemic threat connected to democratic legitimacy, declining trust, and the deepening of social divisions. As such, it requires not isolated and ad-hoc interventions but more radical efforts to rethink democratic participation, education, and technological governance”.

In this environment, enhancing communication among all stakeholders is crucial for ensuring broader access to reliable information for Moldovan audiences.

Sadovic highlighted the necessity for media to maintain professional integrity and the credibility of their outlets, a view echoed by Petru Macovei, executive director of the Association of Independent Press, who stressed the critical role reporters played in an environment rife with Moscow-fueled narratives.

“We journalists must do our job better; we must defend our profession,” he said. “We must educate people instead of spreading propaganda narratives, consciously or not.”

Four workshops across the country focused on fostering resilience, providing participants with the knowledge to identify sources and methods to increase their critical thinking.

In Chisinau, journalists discussed specific national cases with visiting experts who in turn presented international best practices and potential methods for local implementation.

While local reporters are aware of the Kremlin involvement in planning, organising, and disseminating manipulated or fabricated information, the seminars highlighted the lack of a systematic approach at all levels in addressing its spread. As a result, the response to the detection of disinformation as well as the management of social and other media, has been reactive rather than proactive.

IWPR's efforts extended beyond the capital with tailored seminars organised in Bălți, Cahul and Comrat where Lilia Zaharia, editorial coordinator of the Independent Press Association of Moldova and media expert Samir Krilic engaged with journalists, fact-checkers, educators, NGO representatives and local authorities.

Zaharia’s examples of disinformation in the regions disseminated through media and social platforms prompted participants to brainstorm potential solutions to these issues, while Krilic focused on illustrating communication strategies grounded in evidence and integrity to effectively combat disinformation.

“Disinformation poses a huge danger to the region of Gagauzia [Moldova’s sole autonomous region]. It impacts citizens, the political environment and the well-being of the entire autonomy, negatively influencing its development,” said Elena Celak, a fact-checker and freelancer from Comrat, Gagauzia’s regional capital. She added that disinformation campaigns run by pro-Russian regional government affected trust in both foreign donors and the central government, with an impact on the region’s development.

The seminars highlighted how communication between media and authorities had long been inadequate and delayed, thus creating a gap in the information flow which enabled malicious narratives to spread unchallenged.

“A lack of accurate government information provides fertile ground for false narratives to feed distrust and ultimately destabilize the country,” Krilic concluded.

Irina Smirnova, who heads the public relations department in Bălți’s city hall, acknowledged the need for governmental press services and media to work more closely together.

“Citizens must receive all the information they are interested in quickly and only from official source [and] delays in transmitting the necessary information to the media gives rise to interpretation and therefore fake news,” she noted.

Participants expressed deep concerns over Russian intent to interfere in the referendum.

“The political orientation of Balti residents, influenced by historical, cultural and economic factors, may lead to an opposition to European integration greater than in other regions,” stated Maia Balan, a journalist from the Bălți-based NGO Lex XXI. “Local authorities have a decisive role in combating disinformation, especially during election periods… by dispelling myths and providing accurate and verified data. They must respect transparency in their activities and maintain open communication. Then the citizens will increase trust in local institutions”