BROD

The Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services of the Republic of North Macedonia has shared the results of the recent Research on Media Literacy among First and Second Year Students in Secondary Education. This significant research effort, initiated and financed by AAVMS, comes as part of North Macedonia's ongoing educational reform aimed at integrating media literacy into the national curriculum. [+]

The 34 organizations part of the EDMO fact-checking network that contributed to this brief published a total of
1.750 fact-checking articles in June 2024. Out of these articles, 148 (8%) focused on Ukraine-related disinformation;
146 (8%) on climate change-related disinformation; 209 (12%) on disinformation related to the EU; 67 (4%) on the
conflict between Israel and Hamas; 78 (4%) on COVID-19-related disinformation; 135 (8%) on disinformation related
to immigration; and 39 (2%) on disinformation about LGBTQ+ and gender issues. [+]

GATE institute, the coordinator of BRODhub, is a coorganiser of forum against disinformation, in Sofia. [+]

The change that teachers who turn media literacy into a resource bring about was the topic of the third edition of the media literacy conference organised by the Center for Independent Journalism (CIJ) on 18 May in Bucharest. The event brought together teachers from the CIJ's Media Literacy Programme, representatives of authorities, as well as locally and internationally acknowledged media literacy experts, including members of the EDMO hub, BROD, and Renee Hobbs, founder of the Media Education Lab. [+]

The Council of EU approved the guiding framework for the practical establishment of the EU Hybrid Rapid Response Teams. This paves the way for such teams to be deployed upon request, to prepare against and counter hybrid threats and campaigns. [+]

EDMO week continues in Brussels with the focus moving from the general conference to a meeting of the EDMO network of hubs representatives from across Europe. BRODhub is represented by Madalina Botan from Scoala Nationala de Studii Politice si Administrative (SNSPA) and Scientific coordinator of BROD Keith Peter Kiely from GATE Institute, Sofia University. [+]

For the better part of the last decade, we, as citizens of the modern setting, living our lives in a world where the Internet is part of our everyday existence, are aware of disinformation. Call it fake news, propaganda, misinformation, the umbrella of disinformation covers the many aspects of this topic. A rose by any other name: name it as you wish, it’s still the same thing.

This article originally appeared on Hive Mind platform. [+]

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That is one of the questions AFP Fact Checker Rossen Bossev did address during a Conference titled
‘Countering Disinformation and Promoting Media Literacy’ co-organised by French and German
embassies to Bulgaria on April 22, 2024. [+]

The Bulgarian-Romanian Observatory of Digital Media BROD was presented at the symposium of the Presse Francophone in Bucharest. [+]

Between April 3rd and April 4th, the Communication Research Center of the Faculty of Communication and Public Relations within the National School of Political and Administrative Studies (SNSPA) organized the 12th edition of the Romanian-American Workshop, in partnership with the Cox Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research at the University of Georgia (USA). Prof. Nicoleta Corbu and Assoc. Prof. Madalina Botan, as representatives of BROD, delivered interventions on the risks of electoral disinformation, the role of technological platforms in minimizing these risks, and the responsibility of all actors involved in regulating the media ecosystem in the electoral context. [+]

Euractiv.com with AFP with analysis about the anti-migrant misinformation in Bulgaria. [+]

The population across the European Union is ageing. This is a fact that is more often looked at as a problem, rather than an opportunity. However, it is time to reverse the perspective. One of the main problems especially in countries like Bulgaria, is that opportunities are not given and sought for the active inclusion of the elderly in public life. Due to the digitalization of the world a big part of social debates has migrated to the digital space. Elderly people want to participate and be heard.

This article originally appeared on Hive Mind platform. [+]

In both rounds of the local elections in the Republic of Moldova, held in November 2023, the pro-Kremlin media used disinformation as a political tool. Old narratives, used in previous election campaigns, were recirculated, but also combined with pro-Kremlin narratives about the war in Ukraine, unachievable election promises and even using hate speech to denigrate the opponents.

This article originally appeared on Hive Mind platform. [+]

The events of the last 3 years have been a huge generator of emotions for each of us, but also an incubator for disinformation. It has taken over the media space and continues, in the presence of fear and intense emotions, to destabilize trust in factual information. Nearly two years after the invasion of Ukraine, we look at the evolution of false narratives online, and discuss how a war in the 21st century takes on some new nuances to what history has accustomed us to.

This article originally appeared on Hive Mind platform.  [+]

Since 24 February 2022, when the Russian Federation started an aggressive and unjustified war against Ukraine, both the neighboring countries and the Republic of Moldova have been targets of propaganda and disinformation from the Kremlin. The waves of disinformation have forced the authorities in Chisinau to adopt various measures, including legislation, to protect Moldova's information space and its citizens from Kremlin propaganda transmitted through various channels. This article analyzes what can the authorities do to stop the spread of disinformation on the example of the Republic of Moldova.

This article originally appeared on Hive Mind platform. [+]

The Member States, with the support of the Commission and ENISA, the EU Agency for Cybersecurity, have published a new compendium on how to protect the integrity of elections from a cybersecurity perspective. [+]

The European Digital and Media Literacy Conference in Brussels puts the many faces of digital and media literacy in the European spotlight during the Belgian EU presidency. [+]

The Bulgarian-Romanian Digital Observatory of Digital Media (BROD) is presented at the EDMO scientific conference at the University of Amsterdam. Nicoleta Corbu, Dan Sultănescu and Madalina Botan from National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (SNSPA), Todor Galev from Center for the Study of Democracy, the scientific coordinator of BROD Keith Kiely, Andy Stoycheff from NTCenter and Patrik Szicherle from GLOBSEC have a paper, named Effects of disinformation about the accession to the Schengen area in Bulgaria and Romania. [+]

Major technology companies signed a pact on Friday to voluntarily adopt "reasonable precautions" to prevent artificial intelligence (AI) tools from being used to disrupt democratic elections around the world, announced AP. The document is A Tech Accord to Combat Deceptive Use of AI in 2024 Elections. [+]

A number of measures to limit the risks of disinformation campaigns are envisaged by the draft law for amendments to the Electronic Communications Act prepared by the democratic groups in Bulgaria. [+]

Natural Language Processing Machine Learning models from the Intelligent Government group in the Big Data for Smart Society Institute (GATE) were used for an art project by Veneta Androva and Tsvetomila Mihailova. [+]

Keith Peter Kiely PhD is elected as a Member of the Executive Board – Hubs representative (BROD), [+]

The phenomenon of spreading disinformation was discussed at practice-oriented webinar “Beyond the Headlines: Tools and Skills to Detect Disinfo in the News”, organized by Euro Advance Association as part of the pan-European Read Twice (R2) project. Experienced researcher from the GATE Institute and Coordinator of research in BROD, Dr. Keith Kiely presented two case studies, offering insights into the dynamics within Bulgarian society which enable the spread of disinformation narratives. [+]

The Programme Director of the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) and the European Media and Information Fund (EMIF) projects Paolo Cesarini is a special guest to BROD in Sofia. In his first day of the visit he gave an insightful speech on the forum of GATE Institute. [+]

BROD liaison document is approved by the EDMO Executive Board. Now, the Bulgarian-Romanian Digital Media Observatory can be seen as a legitimate and functioning part of the EDMO network. BROD is proud to contribute to the EDMO community in our collaborative efforts to tackle this seminal issue. [+]

Discussing anti-Western narratives is a hot topical issue nowadays, but not a new one - just as propaganda is not an expression of our times, but has a long history behind it. I will not talk about the general course of anti-Western propaganda in Eastern Europe and especially in Romania, but about my personal experience with this field and the sometimes arduous process of countering it with honest and transparent means.

This article originally appeared on Hive Mind platform. [+]

Bulgarian-Romanian Observatory of Digital Media BROD and the Hungarian Observatory of Digital Media HDMO signed a Memorandum of Understanding. [+]

The conference "Technologies against Disinformation 2.0" brought together the best Bulgarian technology companies working against disinformation. [+]

As Russia’s aggression against Ukraine wages on for a second year, Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) finds itself on the right side of history but divided. Most countries remain steadfast in its support for EU and NATO membership, and recognise the inherent threats posed by autocratic regimes to the region’s security. Most CEE societies are taking cue from their political leaders that have sought to openly distance themselves from autocratic regimes and assume a more decisive and vocal role on the international scene. [+]

GLOBSEC Trends 2022 is back with its 7th edition. How did the attitudes in Central and Eastern European (CEE) region change with the war in Ukraine?   [+]

In 2023 Bulgaria held parliamentary and local elections.What happened in Bulgaria and is included in EDMO  “Election Disinformation Narratives 2023” Report ? [+]

European Commission Vice-President Vera Jourova, responsible values and transparency, upholding the rule of law in the European Union, as well as monitoring implementation of the Code of Practice, was in Sofia, invited by Balkan Constitutional Forum. [+]

Keith Kiely from BROD participated in the panel Global Propaganda Campaigns: Exploring the Intersection of AI, Deepfake, and Disinformation [+]

The conference, organised by the University of Dubrovnik and the local ADMO Digital Media Observatory, has established itself as one of the leading in the Western Balkans. It opened with a discussion on priorities and perspectives in disinformation research. [+]

Bulgarian-Romanian Observatory of Digital Media BROD presented its achievements at the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) meeting of the fourteen EDMO Hubs in Dubrovnik on 28-29 September 2023. [+]

First analysis of the implementation of commitments under the Strengthened Code of Practice on Disinformation of Very Large Online Platforms (VLOP’s) & Very Large Online Search Engines (VLOSE); Researchers warn about European elections 2024 [+]

The European Commission in Bulgaria launched an information campaign dedicated to the common European currency, entitled #ЗаЕврото накратко: отговорите, които търсим (About the Euro in a Nutshell: the answers We Are Looking For). [+]

Two representatives of BROD participated at the International CLaDA-BG Conference 2023.

The invited speaker assoc. prof. Milena Dobreva presented From Digitisation Frenzy to Datafication Frenzy: Are Data Spaces the Silver Bullet for “Real” Digital Transformation? Dr. Keith Kiely spoke about the Framework for Analysing Disinformation Narratives: Migrants and Refugees in Bulgaria. [+]

One Year Wartime Disinformation – is Collective Resistance Possible? - that question was asked at the First annual conference of the Bulgarian Coalition Against Disinformation, held in Sofia on 27 April 2023. [+]

On January 26-27, 2023, the kick-off meeting of the international project to create the Bulgarian-Romanian Observatory for Digital Media (BROD) took place in Sofia. In it, the “Big Data for Smart  Society” – GATE Institute  – at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” heads a regional hub for combating disinformation. The project is funded by the European Health and Digital Executive Agency. Its coordinator is GATE and it includes 11 other partners from five European countries, including Agence France-Presse and Bulgarian National Television. Its duration is until May 31, 2025. [+]

Democracy is one of the fundamental values of our European Union. It is at the heart of our open and transparent societies. In the European Union, citizens can freely express their views, participate in democratic life, and choose their political representatives.
However, false information has increased in recent years and can affect various aspects of our lives: health, public security, trust in democracy, climate and the environment, migration and fundamental rights and values that underpin our societies. [+]

The new national and regional hubs will cover Bulgaria, Germany, Estonia, Greece, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Austria, Romania and Slovenia.  [+]

If we do not all go out and vote on Sunday, we will directly influence the election results, and not in the direction we would all like the European Union to develop, because we will let others decide for us the future of power in Europe. This is what Yordanka Chobanova - Head of the European Commission Representation in Bulgaria said. She took part in the presentation of a study by the Center for the Study of Democracy. The study is part of the work of Bulgarian-Romanian Digital Media Observatory BROD. [+]

The Bulgarian-Romanian Observatory of Digital Media (BROD), which works under the framework of the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO), launches its website https://brodhub.eu/. The hub portal starts in the context of rising disinformation and hybrid war against the European Union. [+]

Great news for the fight against disinformation last week! The European Commission (EC) announced that 6 new hubs will be part of the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO). The new hubs have been selected following a call for proposals and will complement the territorial scope covered by the hubs already in place. EDMO’s hubs now cover all the EU countries which is a great step forward for addressing disinformation challenges in all EU languages.  [+]

Genuine discussion on VLOP's implementation of the Code of Practice on Disinformation (CoP) in Bulgaria and Romania was part in the frame of the third GATE Big Data and Artificial Intelligence Forum (BDAIF2023).  [+]

Raluca Buturoiu and Nicoleta Corbu, two Romanian researchers and professors from the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (SNSPA), partner in the Bulgarian-Romanian Observatory of Digital Media (BROD), were selected as Experts within the EDMO Expert Group on Structural Indicators for the Code of Practice on Disinformation. 

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Quoted by international media, trusted by EU institutions, nurtured by the European communities of fact-checkers, media literacy experts, and researchers, the EDMO Task Force on EU Elections 2024 has been a successful endeavor to monitor and counter disinformation ahead of the vote. Its work was built relying on the efforts of over 50 independent fact-checking organizations, part of the EDMO fact-checking network, and 14 EDMO hubs monitoring the disinformation at the local level. [+]

AFP with video debunk! Misinformation regarding Bulgaria's asylum rankings in the EU spread on social media after Austria agreed to let Bulgaria and Romania join the Schengen area of free movement by air and sea borders in exchange for stepping up the fight against illegal immigration [+]

Dr Sharon McCulloch of the EUI Widening Europe Programme presented a series of trainings at GATE Institute, Sofia University St. Climent Ohridsky. [+]

European Commission announced a set of possible actions to foster the innovation, security and resilience of digital infrastructures. The future competitiveness of Europe's economy depends on these advanced digital network infrastructures and services, since fast, secure, and widespread connectivity is essential for the deployment of the technologies that will bring us into tomorrow's world: telemedicine, automated driving, predictive maintenance of buildings, or precision agriculture. [+]

Mădălina Boțan is a researcher within the BROD project (Bulgarian-Romanian Observatory of Digital Media) and a PhD lecturer at the National School of Political and Administrative Studies, Faculty of Communication. On the eve of the elections, she was invited to the Media Literacy Lab, the podcast of the Center for Independent Journalism (CIJ), to share her insights on information and disinformation during election campaigns. [+]

Evaluating the Code of Practice on Disinformation in Bulgaria and Romania will be the focus panel of the Grand Opening of the GATE Institute Building.

Our special guests are Paolo Cesarini, Programme Director for EDMO and EMIF and Madalina Botan from SNSPA, and we will have the pleasure to speak online with Paula Gori from EDMO and Kalina Bontcheva from University of Sheffield. Todor Galev from Center for the Study of Democracy, Bulgaria and Maria Koleva from BNT also will present their work as a partners of Bulgarian-Romanian Observatory of Digital Media BROD. [+]

The Center for Independent Journalism (CIJ) has the pleasure to invite you to the Media Literacy Conference 2024 - The Superpower of Tomorrow's Teachers, which will take place on 18 May 2024, at Sheraton Hotel in Bucharest. The third edition of the Media Literacy Conference is a full day event, starting at 09:00 AM. [+]

Fighting Misinformation Online (FMO) event in Warsaw is hosted by Google, YouTube, European University Institute, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation alongside Demagog and Mixer. [+]

75 teachers from 74 schools in Romania learn how to teach media literacy concepts to their students, within the Media Education Program, the largest program of this kind from Romania, carried out by the Center for Independent Journalism. Teachers benefit from free training in order to acquire media literacy skills and learn methods that would help the students become responsible citizens, resilient in the face of disinformation. [+]