“This may be the toughest battle of our generation. Manipulation, technologies that enable the creation of near-perfect fakes, coordinated attacks on public trust, propaganda funded by major hostile players and disseminated through fake accounts – all this makes up a complex arsenal that creates a highly volatile information environment. In this context, the volume and aggressiveness of disinformation in the coming years may exceed what we have seen so far,” Maya Sandu believes.
At the same time, the use of artificial intelligence has become not just a theoretical risk, “but real means that are used in many countries and that will be used against us as well, and with even greater intensity.
Therefore, the president called for joint action and finding effective solutions.
“I realize that you don’t have the luxury of large editorial offices or generous budgets. And that is why solutions need to be sought through collaboration, efficiency and professionalism. We also need to look at how to strengthen the capabilities of newsrooms, including through resource sharing. Cooperation between media outlets, sharing expertise and infrastructure can be among the most effective solutions. International examples – from editorial alliances to joint investigations – show that ‘less but better’ is sometimes the only realistic way,” the head of state said.
She urged to pay attention to the quality of professional training in the near future: “It is necessary for the press to deeply understand the European mechanisms, analyze documents and translate into an accessible language every step of this path”.
At the same time, Sandu appealed to the Ministry of Education and Education, universities and the entire professional environment to consider the training of journalists as a common responsibility.
“At the same time, we must give citizens the tools of information self-defense. Media education is no longer a luxury, but a necessity. It is important to see how elements of digital and media literacy can be introduced in schools as an investment in the long-term health of our democracy,” said Maia Sandu.
The Mass-Media 2025 Forum was attended by representatives of more than 200 editorial offices. Among the topics discussed were the issues of subsidizing and media survival in the era of artificial intelligence.
The chairperson of the Parliamentary Commission for Culture, Education, Science, Youth, Sports and Media, Liliana Nicolaescu-Onofrei, said that work on the regulation of the online space will start soon: “This discussion will be with the participation of all stakeholders who really want to contribute and take some responsibility”.
Cristian Jardan, Minister of Culture, said that there is no clear vision on how to do this, neither in Moldova, nor in the world: “Online is a complicated topic: we are talking about complete freedom of information and its dissemination. We have so many distribution channels that it is extremely difficult to regulate it strictly, clearly and comprehensively”.
Michelle Iliev, state secretary at the Ministry of Economic Development and Digitalization, believes the problem is not just one of regulation, and called for attention to the most recent trend – the decline in social media use around the world. Australia was the first country to ban children under 16 from using social media through the introduction of digital ID.
“I read in Bloomberg today that overall social media use and adoption has been on a downward trend for the past three years. These are trends that we need to analyze and see if we have an opportunity to innovate now or if we’re going to go against the tide and only act on regulations. It’s not just about regulation, it’s about concrete action,” said the Secretary of State.
Among the proposals discussed was the introduction of a “digital levy” on online platforms. But, as Ludmila Andronic, chair of the Press Council, noted: “It seems like a good idea and a support tool for the media, we just need to think how to apply it and whether we can really get it from the platforms”.
