The Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) "Viitorul" implemented the project "Supporting Critical Thinking and Resisting Disinformation in the Republic of Moldova", from January 2023 to October 2024. The project's objective was to enhance the capacities of media institutions, civil society organizations, students, and the Audiovisual Council of the Republic of Moldova in critical thinking, media literacy, analysis, resistance to misinformation, and the coverage of public interest information in an unbiased manner.

Within the project, a mapping of media institutions and civil society organizations active in the media space of the Republic of Moldova was carried out. In the same way, a meeting was organized with the members of the Audiovisual Council of the Republic of Moldova to outline the main objective of the project.

Subsequently, 35 students, representatives of media institutions and civil society organizations, were selected, as a result of an organized competition, to participate in a complex training program, which was launched on May 3, 2023. On June 22, 2023, on the last day of training, the 35 participants were handed certificates of participation in the program, which included 20 sessions, where topics such as: media education and the national experience regarding media education; what is behind disinformation trends and what are the myths behind disinformation campaigns. It discussed: techniques to combat disinformation; false information as a component of disinformation; about experience and good practices at the international level in combating disinformation. The participants were also trained in the fact-checking chapter; the peculiarities of disinformation in the online environment; the role of new technologies in disinformation campaigns; and also the role of journalists in combating disinformation, etc.

After the training sessions, participants applied the knowledge acquired in practical activities. Those who wanted were tasked with conducting assessments, case studies, monitoring, and analysis on topics related to disinformation, media literacy, and critical thinking. The project envisaged the writing of 15 such articles.

Another activity of the project was the creation, based on an open competition, of a Discussion Platform to combat disinformation in a national, regional, and international context, represented by journalists, students, non-governmental organizations, and mass media representatives, which met in four working sessions. At these meetings (October 16, 2023; February 6, 2024; June 4, 2024; October 18, 2024) the homework of the participants from the Training Program was presented. Materials were included in 4 collections of articles (first, second, third, and fourth).

The study "Information policies of TV stations in the Republic of Moldova", also carried out within the project, is about how the most influential media institutions in the Republic of Moldova reflect the internal and external problems that affect society, from the perspective of disinformation, the presentation of fake news and the implications of these actions for the country.

Also, according to the "red flags" principle, a Guide was developed regarding the identification, classification, and countering of false information, in the public and media space of the Republic of Moldova, in Russian and Romanian. The Romanian version was presented on February 6, 2024, at the second meeting of the Discussion Platform. The Russian version was translated later.

The project also provided for the development of 12 infographics based on relevant information about the training program; the sessions held within the program; the informational policy of televisions from the Republic of Moldova; the conclusions of the study regarding the information policy of televisions – part I and part II; ten questions to detect fake news; web sources for checking video images; web sources for detecting fake news; red flags recommended by the Oxford Internet Institute; the first five articles written by participants in the Training Program; the second collection of articles with another five participant analyses; and the third collection of articles on the last five participants.

The project "Supporting Critical Thinking and Resisting Disinformation in the Republic of Moldova", implemented by IDIS "Viitorul", was financially supported by the Embassy of Finland in Bucharest.