The international conference, co-organised by the Human and Social Studies Foundation and its president, Prof. Dimitar Vatsov, distinguished itself with a rich and informative programme. Panel discussions and speeches about Russia’s global information war, Europe's media democracy shield, AI solutions for media accuracy, historical references on different destabilisation methods and necessary media literacy improvements shaped the agenda.
Among various excellent speakers, Dr. Nevillе Bolt, Founder and Director of the Sympodium Institute for Strategic Communications in London, delivered a keynote speech on strategic communication, defining its role in shaping and shifting significant discourses in society. Moreover, he emphasised the uniqueness of strategic communication, rooted in the fundamental values of liberal democracy. The international team of Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) and its Managing Editor Andy Carvin delivered insightful presentations on co-opting of fact-checking, exposure of Russian information warfare and Telegram investigative techniques.
The Media Programme South East Europe of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung hosted a panel on narratives as warfare on the first day of the conference. “In an age of instant information flows across borders, narratives are not just tools of communication, they can be tools of control and persuasion” Ralitsa Stoycheva, Research Associate of the KAS Media Programme, opened the discussion. During the panel three different perspectives were presented. Vladimir Shopov, Research Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, explained the China’s geopolitical efforts to construct and project its narrative infrastructure in Southeast Europe. Milorad Ivanovic, Editor-in-chief of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network Serbia, spoke about controversies in the Serbian society regarding the Russian narratives. Halyna Tanai, Chief Operating Officer of the NGO Lviv Media Forum, pointed out the importance of leaving foreign narratives behind and focus on building healthy dialogue within the Ukrainian society with own, trustworthy messages.