Fighting disinformation and championing the truth

Staging a walkout at the Pentagon, demonstrating outside a police station, resigning  from a TV channel that's turned partisan, leaving one's own country to be able to write the truth albeit in exile -- these were just a few of the stories making rounds at an event held in the Belgian capital Brussels recently, an event where nearly 90 media men and women from around 65 countries had gathered.

This was 'Press Forward: Journalism in the Age of Influence', a conference organised by the EEAS (European External Action Service), the European Union (EU)'s diplomatic service. Held on 28-29 October in Brussels this year, the underlying objective of the event was to build resilient media communities against information manipulation and challenges, to promote strategic information integrity globally.

The sheer diversity of the participants set the event buzzing with ideas. There were journalists, fact checkers, content creators and more from Egypt, Moldova, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Kuwait, Kenya, the US, Germany, Ukraine, Armenia, Kosovo, Palestine and so many more countries. It was a meeting of minds, and indeed hearts. After all, there was a common passion, common challenges and common interests that created an invisible yet tangible bond.

Olivier Bailly, the MD of EEAS, in his opening speech, spoke of finding joint solutions to the existing threats in the evolving media landscape. Conditions around the world were difficult for the media and harassment had been heighted in various forms. The onslaught against media was an attack on democracy, on freedom and the free world. That is why the EU had placed priority on FIMI (Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference Threats) and was active in efforts to expose the architecture of FIMI operations, much of which of generated by Russia, among others.
In face of the suppression of independent voices and weakening democracies, it was imperative to stand together and to go that extra mile to ensure that the demand for truth did not die down.

In a lively discussion called 'Disinfo Fight Club', an investigative journalist, a fact checker and an online content creator discussed the future of information. The journalist from Moldova said that they faced huge challenges but needed to speak out so that democracy remained safe.

The fact checker from Egypt spoke of how AI had a positive to role to play in fact checking, despite the existence of AI-driven disinformation. She emphasised the need for media literacy among the audience, the consumers of news.

The content creator from Cote d'Ivor spoke of so much time spent on debunking, but as a content creator he simply spoke to the people directly and receives huge response. There was a general feeling for the need of collaboration among all in the news industry, no matter what role they played, to ensure that the people could place their trust the media. On this note, the moderator quoted a Dutch proverb, "Trust arrives on foot and leaves on horseback," implying how it took time to build up trust, but no time to lose it.

In another session, 'The Newsroom of the Future: Can it Resist the Weaponisation of the Media?", the speakers emphasised that the newsroom was not just a room. It is a rationale stitched together by the underlying fact that truth is under attack. It was not just about dictators, but the sheer speed  at which things were happening that makes it extremely hard for journalists.

A journalist spoke of how they walked out of the Pentagon when they were given a document to sign, a document that would destroy years of trust. They were told, sign this document so you can enter the Pentagon and even after that you will need permission to write. The journalists refused. There were many challenges and restrictions ahead, but the only way was to go forward.

A journalist from Belarus spoke of how it was difficult to function in the absence of working institutions. She said that despite a common conception that they were a proxy state of Russia, they were not. But they had lost information sovereignty. They struggle to hold on to their media freedom.

A German journalist, during the course of the event, spoke of a fundamental shift in user habits. There was no single answer to this from the media, other than a pragmatic attempt at collaboration.
A session of 'The FIMI-AI Nexus' about using AI to counter disinformation, pointed out that a study said that AI gives even up till 45 per cent wrong information at times due to wrong sources. So it was important to minimise the use wrong sources by AI tools. The news on various AI platforms was often outdated or inaccurate.

A speaker  said AI was better at information on history such as the Second World War, but often faltered in accuracy when it came to current affairs. The solution was to ensure a regular update and "cleaning" of the AI tools.

One speaker advised, "Don't use AI for fact checking of live news." However, certain fact checkers disagreed, feeling that it was important to use AI intelligently and also "train" the AI tools as much as possible to use reliable sources, and also to check and counter check. She said, "Don't fear AI, we are in charge."

The speakers recognised the tireless work of civil society organisations, fact checkers, journalists and others, to uphold information integrity and protect fundamental freedoms in an increasingly challenging geopolitical backdrop. It was said that support for these defenders of the truth would remain central to the EEAS efforts to counter the global threats in this regard.

In her closing remarks as the conference drew to a close, Paula Pinho, the Chief Spokesperson of the European Commission, said that it is important to understand how we can make sure that we have fact-based information and that our landscape not be polluted by disinformation. Disinformation, she said, is a real threat to democracy. So it was necessary to develop the ability to detect the manipulation of information. Journalists, fact checkers and experts in the field were crucial for this.

At the end of the exhaustive and exhilarating two days at Brussels, the major take away was that truth prevails about all. It was important for all in the media, globally, to collaborate against the wave of disinformation and media manipulations, to ensure democracy remained strong. The smiles, the handshakes and the unending interactions among the journalists from all over the world spoke of one simple narrative: the defenders of truth would neither bend nor break.    

(* No names have been mentioned in keeping with Chatham House rules.)