Lisbon, Portugal – On Monday, March 24, 2025, the Catholic University of Portugal in Lisbon hosted the conference “Truth in the Age of Disinformation,” a major event organized by the Association of Women Ambassadors in Lisbon (AWA).
Under the high patronage of the President of the Portuguese Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the conference brought together internationally renowned experts, including Prof. Alina Bârgăoanu, PhD, Dean of the Faculty of Communication and Public Relations (SNSPA), a European expert in combating disinformation and member of the Advisory Board of the European Digital Media Observatory.
The event addressed crucial challenges of contemporary society, such as disinformation, manipulation, and the impact of artificial intelligence.
In his closing speech, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa emphasized the urgency of the disinformation problem, stating that it poses a national and global threat extending beyond the realm of mass media.
Key speakers at the conference included:
- Ambassador Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
- Aisén Etcheverry, Minister of Chile
- Alina Bârgăoanu, European Digital Media Observatory
- Simon Thibault, University of Montréal.
Key ideas discussed at the conference:
- Algorithms often favor virality over accuracy, allowing disinformation to spread rapidly and widely.
- Disinformation directly threatens democracy, influencing everything from electoral processes to crisis management.
- Proposed solutions included proactive fact-checking, expanding media literacy programs, and rebuilding social connections to combat isolation and polarization.
The Lisbon conference represented an important step in raising awareness and combating disinformation, highlighting the need for coordinated action at a global level.
