A Council of Europe conference, to take place in Chişinău on 20 March, will examine innovative ways to combat disinformation, foreign information manipulation and interference, and hate speech, which are eroding public trust and undermining the integrity of democratic processes across the continent.

The President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, and the Council of Europe Secretary General, Alain Berset, will deliver opening addresses. The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O´Flaherty, will deliver a keynote speech.

Organised under the auspices of the Moldovan Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and under the umbrella of the New Democratic Pact for Europe, the conference will offer an opportunity to exchange critical experiences and discuss specific mechanisms to build a more trustworthy information environment and promote media and information literacy.

The conference will bring together government representatives, international organisations, academia, and representatives of civil society and the media.

The event will also launch two policy guides adopted by the Council of Europe intergovernmental committee on Media and Information Society, aimed at supporting states in developing national media and information literacy strategies and taking complementary measures to combat disinformation and strengthen information integrity.

Moreover, an update of ongoing work on a possible Council of Europe legal instrument on foreign information manipulation and interference will be presented. The Council of Europe has established a committee of experts to prepare a study on the feasibility of adopting a new legal instrument in criminal law to counter threats such as disinformation, election interference, and other forms of information manipulation.