Media experts call for global cooperation to combat cross-border disinformation at OANA forum in Moscow

MOSCOW, September 21. /TASS/. The world’s leading media outlets should cooperate in combating cross-border disinformation, Timofey Vi, an expert at the Global Fact-Checking Network (GFCN), told a media forum dedicated to the 65th anniversary of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA).

The event is organized by TASS news agency as the chair of OANA.

According to him, the key vulnerability of the modern media environment lies in the isolation of national response mechanisms.

"Fakes have become fully cross-border: the material is created in one jurisdiction, instantly adapted to another, and affects the audience of several countries at once," Vi noted.

The expert emphasized the importance of ensuring global information transparency, under which specialists from different countries have access to data on any cross-border disinformation campaigns.

Vi believes that OANA news agencies need educational formats of interaction, including closed practical webinars for press services and media, as well as joint educational products taking into account national specifics. According to him, GFCN is already actively cooperating with the BRICS and CIS platforms, but the partnership with OANA brings this work to the level of systematic cooperation with national agencies.

"The practical result of our joint work is the development of fact-checking standards, access to deep analytics and analysis of large-scale disinformation campaigns," said the expert. "This is how international cooperation turns from a common idea into a daily working tool."

The discussion of countering disinformation will continue on September 22 at the International Forum Dialogue on Fakes 4.0, where a specialized discussion in the OANA-GFCN format is planned.

The OANA Media Forum in Moscow is taking place in the year marking the 65th anniversary of the organization, which brings together 41 news agencies from 33 countries. The forum is organized by TASS, which will chair OANA until 2028. TASS General Director Andrey Kondrashov heads the organization, while TASS Deputy Director General Marat Abulkhatin is OANA’s secretary general.