Euractiv: Italian Parliamentarians Commit to Defunding Disinformation

Euractiv

“Prominent Italian parliamentarians committed on Thursday (29 February) to “strengthening the immunity system” of their society by making sure that global brands stop advertising with media outlets that spread disinformation.

The announcements were made during a conference on “Defunding Disinformation” organised in the Italian Chamber of Deputies by the Balkan Free Media Initiative (BFMI), a group of media experts concerned about the decline of media freedom in Southeastern Europe.

The BFMI director Antoinette Nikolova presented a report that said advertising revenues from major North American and European brands are funding – and thus legitimising – media outlets that spread disinformation about the Russian aggression against Ukraine, Kosovo, and other divisive issues in the Balkans.

Peter Horrocks, former BBC World News director who is now a board member of Ofcom, the UK communications regulator, argued that the Balkans was home to an extreme information war and the rest of Europe could learn from that.”