Latvia continues to address disinformation challenges in the UN framework. As part of the Global Media and Information Literacy Week which is taking place from 24 to 31 October, Latvia is co-organizing a thematic event at the United Nations on Empowering Civil Society in Strengthening Media and Information Literacy.
This event aims to illustrate how civil society organizations contribute to preventing or tackling disinformation and misinformation, both online and off-line, thus strengthening the resilience of societies, nationally and globally. It will feature speakers representing diverse organisations and viewpoints, from human rights defenders to journalists or online platforms, in a conversation about their respective roles in a rapidly changing political and technological landscape.
The event will be moderated by the UN Under-Secretary General for Global Communications, Ms. Melissa Fleming. Latvia will be represented by the Permanent Representative of Latvia to the United Nations, H.E. Mr. Andrejs Pildegovičs, and a civil society representative – the Disinformation Resilience Advisor at the Baltic Centre for Media Excellence, Dr. Solvita Denisa-Liepniece.
On 25 March 2021, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a resolution, “Global Media and Information Literacy Week”, which was drafted and co-sponsored by Latvia together with a number of other like-minded countries. This is the first UN resolution that calls for getting to grips with problems that arise in the information environment, including the fight against the spread of disinformation and misinformation. The resolution was co-sponsored by 96 of 193 UN member states and laid a foundation for expanding awareness of disinformation and misinformation globally.