Challenges in Responding to Foreign Propaganda while Preserving Freedom of the Media: The Case of Moldova

This study highlights ongoing efforts by national government authorities and the public in Moldova to devise legal ways of countering propaganda disseminated by Russian and Belarusian media outlets, which are intent on manipulating public opinion and destabilizing Moldovan politics. The war in Ukraine has produced increased security risks for Moldova, which threaten the very existence of the nation. Concurrently, Moldova’s new status as a candidate state for EU membership, its lifting of the emergency rule as of 2024, and its renewed commitments to human rights and freedoms, including freedom of the press, require media monitoring authorities to be more attentive to both the European anti-propaganda toolbox, and European common values and principles.