The Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) "Viitorul" implemented, between December 2024 and March 2025, the "Calling Out Disinformation and Misinformation in the Republic of Moldova" project, funded by NATO's Public Diplomacy Division.

Within the project, over 20 young people, students, representatives of civil society organizations, members of youth centers, etc., from the Republic of Moldova, participated in a practical workshop on methods of identifying and countering Russian-supported and sponsored disinformation. During the workshop, Ion Tăbîrță, Executive Director of the NATO Information and Documentation Centre in Chisinau, spoke about Russia's online disinformation campaigns against Western countries, including the Republic of Moldova.

At the same workshop, young people learned from Nina Bolocan how to create infographics and videos to counter Russian disinformation narratives. Then, the young people had to create visual materials intended to misinform about certain problems in society that persist today. Then, IDIS "Viitorul" held three hackathons, where young people presented over 20 infographics and videos.

The created materials were analyzed by a team of experts from IDIS "Viitorul" and promoted on the IDIS "Viitorul" Facebook page, and the IDIS "Viitorul" Telegram account. Materials promoted between March 10-28, gathered a total of: 3036 likes, 761 comments, 634 shares, 220,988 plays, 640,225 views, and an impact for 450,875 people. Five, the most inspired participants, went on an information visit to NATO headquarters in Brussels, from March 16-20, 2025, organized by IDIS "Viitorul".

The overall objective of the "Calling Out Disinformation and Misinformation in the Republic of Moldova" project was to support the effort to counter the threats of disinformation and manipulation from the Russian Federation targeting the Republic of Moldova. The specific objective of the project was to increase the capacity of young people, students, and opinion leaders in areas such as critical thinking, media literacy, analysis, and resistance to misinformation, as well as reflecting public-interest information in an unbiased way. It also aimed to increase the resilience of Moldovan society regarding critical thinking, media literacy, and resistance to disinformation through awareness and visibility actions on social media, specifically tailored to call out Russia and its proxies' disinformation and misinformation campaigns.

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The "Calling out disinformation and misinformation in the Republic of Moldova" project, implemented by IDIS "Viitorul", was funded by NATO's Public Diplomacy Division.

IDIS Viitorul is an independent think tank established in 1993 that combines social, political and economic research with strong advocacy components. The institution conducts applied monitoring research in several areas: economics, social policy, EU policies, regional development, and security and foreign policy risks.

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