Aspects regarding disinformation in UTA Gagauzia
The report presents an x-ray of the effects of disinformation affecting the Republic of Moldova, particularly UTA Gagauzia, and analyzes the perceptions of the residents of the autonomy towards the social-political and economic processes in the country and in the region through the prism of the results of a survey carried out by an initiative group qualified in identifying and combating disinformation.
In the last few years, combating disinformation has become an important objective for society in the Republic of Moldova. Combating disinformation has become desirable, especially from the perspective of the need to achieve the country's strategic goal – European integration. For this, a certain degree of social cohesion is needed, which seems to be impossible to achieve without ensuring correct information for various segments of society.
The Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia (UTAG) has a pronounced specificity within the Republic of Moldova, therefore, the events and phenomena in this region deserve a special examination, intended to contribute, both to the preservation of the socio-political diversity of the regions, and to the consolidation cohesion at national level. Just like the population of the entire country, that of UTAG is subject to the danger of misinformation.
In such circumstances, the ADEPT Association decided to get involved, in a somewhat different way, in investigating the phenomenon of disinformation in a distinct area, such as UTA Gagauzia. The aim was to identify the causes, sources and ways of spreading disinformation in Gagauzia, as well as the measures that can be taken to reduce or eliminate the effects of disinformation.
This report was produced by the ADEPT Association within the project "Informing the inhabitants of Gagauzia by combating disinformation", with the financial support of the European Union through Internews in Moldova. Its content is the exclusive responsibility of the ADEPT Association and cannot, under any circumstances, be considered as reflecting the position of the European Union.