Maria Titizian: Fighting Misinformation Amid a Security Crisis: The Armenian Media Landscape

Please join the Fletcher Eurasia Club for a conversation about Armenia's media landscape with Maria Titizian, the founding Editor-in-Chief of EVN Report. She will speak on misinformation campaigns in Armenia amid hybrid warfare. She will also discuss the role of social media, various strategies and policies to combat false narratives, and potential guardrails against misinformation that can help build more resilient and informed societies.

Establishing effective mechanisms to combat misinformation can be challenging for any country, especially for a small state. In Armenia, a transitional democracy seeking to consolidate its political system, the population is struggling with postwar trauma while having to confront constant threats from hostile, nondemocratic neighbors. The prevalence of fake news and coordinated external and internal disinformation campaigns has impacted perceptions about security, while public trust in the media is at record-low levels in the country. Strategies and policies are being implemented to combat false narratives, but how effective are they in a polarized society, especially when decontextualized news and information on social media platforms are pervasive? When governments in democratic societies step in to regulate the media landscape to mitigate the spread of fake news, do they threaten press freedom? What guardrails against misinformation can be put into place to build a more resilient and informed society?

We encourage you to read in advance the following articles by Titizian and other experts about recent security crises in Armenia, including the 2020 Artsakh War, the 2023 ethnic cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as Russia and Azerbaijan’s hybrid threats against Armenia.

The event is open to members of the Fletcher and Tufts communities and invited guests. Please register via myFletcher to attend the event in person. If you would like to submit discussion questions for the speaker in advance, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. Lunch will be served following the conversation.