Patrick Penninckx, head of the Council of Europe Information Society Department, took part in an online exchange of views "From pandemic to infodemic: countering disinformation amid COVID19", organised by the Renew Europe group of the European Parliament on 4th of June 2020. Talking in a panel moderated by MEP Nathalie Loiseau, Mr. Penninckx highlighted the impact of disinformation on fundamental rights, freedom of expression and democracy, reviewed the current threats to freedom of expression as worsened by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and shared Council of Europe recommendations to tackle these challenges. The panel brought in also Javier Lesaca, expert on disinformation at Columbia University, Jose Miguel Cansado, expert on health related social network disinformation and  Rudy Reichstadt, founder of Conspiracy Watch. Věra Jourová, Vice-President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency addressed the audience of the webinar with the key note speech.

• Presentation by Patrick Penninckx