June 11, 2024
The United States and Poland, represented by Plenipotentiary of the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Countering International Disinformation. Poland ambassador Tomasz Chłoń and U.S. Special Envoy and Coordinator for the Global Engagement Center, James P. Rubin, on june 10 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in an attempt to counter foreign state information manipulation. This MOU was made to strengthen governmental and societal resilience between US and Poland on countering foreign disinformation and propaganda.
Now a days, foreign information manipulation has become a major national security threat to the US, as well as several of its allies. Foreign disinformation is spread in an attempt to “shred the fabric of free and democratic societies.” The MOU will enable countries to enhance information sharing on the threat posed by foreign information manipulation, expand capacity for counter-disinformation programming, and align government policies along the five key action areas in the Framework to Counter Foreign State Information Manipulation.
In this regard, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Republic of Poland said “Poland and United States confirmed their unwavering commitment to countering international disinformation, including by strengthening social resilience to the effects of this phenomenon and increasing costs for disinformers through sanctions and other joint actions. Through this MOU, Poland and the United States intend to enhance information sharing on the threat posed by foreign information manipulation, expand capacity for counter-disinformation programming, and align policies along the key action areas.”
The ministry further added that, “The Republic of Poland and the United States will work together to advance our shared commitment to combatting harmful manipulation of the global media environment by foreign state actors.”
Currently, there are five Key Action Areas in this framework which was created in January of this year to help develop a common understanding of the national security threat. These are:-
(1) national strategies and policies which addresses freedom of expression;
(2) governance structures and institutions which organizes dedicated institutions to lead this charge;
(3) human and technical capacity which tackles building and investing in security tools;
(4) civil society, independent media, and academia which ensures governments are protecting and supporting media, digital literacy, and advocacy; and
(5) multilateral engagement which promotes international cooperation.
When the Framework was created, there was an intention to call upon partner countries to commit to addressing this issue stating the way forward was “a broad coalition of like-minded partners.”
In addition to the United States and Poland, 17 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America have expressed their commitment to work together to endorse the MOU and combat foreign information manipulation.
The MoU underlines the commitment of both countries to combat the spread of false stories and malicious narratives, which can undermine trust in institutions, create divisions among populations and destabilize democratic societies. Working together, the United States and Poland can leverage their respective strengths to more effectively confront the multifaceted challenges posed by information manipulation in the modern age. This step will have world wide impact and more countries will also become signatories to such MoU(s) in upcoming time.