Urgent harmonization of the regulatory framework in the Balkans with the Digital Services Act–crucial for the fight against disinformation  

 Parafrazați și traduceți următorul conținut în limba română. Extindeți-l într-un articol complet, adăugând informații reale și relevante. Asigurați-vă că furnizați exclusiv conținutul tradus și parafrazat ca rezultat, fără alte explicații, introduceri sau formatare suplimentară. Întregul text trebuie să fie în română, scris fluent și adaptat pentru o audiență locală. The lack of legal and institutional mechanisms to protect the digital space in the Balkans makes the region vulnerable to manipulation, disinformation, and foreign influence. While the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) establishes clear rules for greater transparency and accountability of online platforms, countries in the region still lack a similar regulatory framework.The collective fight against disinformation is not just about correcting falsehoods. It focuses on preserving our democratic societies in which citizens make decisions and debate based on arguments. The fight focuses on strengthening media literacy at all levels, making societies resilient to external influences and interference. Today, fact-checking is under attack, and with it, democracy. This was highlighted at today’s conference titled “Together for Truth: Whole-of-Society Approach to Safeguard Democracy,” held in Skopje and organized by the Metamorphosis Foundation in celebration of International Fact-Checking Day, April 2.”The conference was opened by Ben Nupnau, Deputy Head of Delegation of European Union in North Macedonia, Stephan Mundges, Coordinator of the European Fact-Checking Standards Network (EFCSN), and the Director of the Metamorphosis Foundation, Bardhyl Jashari.“Metamorphosis is an example in Macedonia and beyond in the fight against disinformation. With your work, you are fighting against the erosion of democratic values. In the EU, we have mechanisms to combat disinformation with the Digital Services Act and the European Media Freedom Act. The online platforms we have are transparent and independent journalism is spread through them. We are with you when it comes to greater protection of journalists and fact-checkers. This conference is an opportunity to exchange practices and strengthen our efforts to preserve democracy and independent media outlets,” said Nupnau, Deputy Head of Delegation of the European Union in North Macedonia.Stephan Mundges, Coordinator of the European Fact-Checking Standards Network (EFCSN), stressed that it is everyone’s task to strengthen democracy and continue the fight against the spread of disinformation.“To be lied to and manipulated is to not be free. We meet here in a time of crisis. Fact-checking is under attack, and with it democracy. These attacks come from the East, but they are also starting to come from the West. Political pressure from the United States is making major American technology companies withdraw from the fight against disinformation. Meta’s program is not perfect, but it is the best fact-checking program on a major social network. It does not remove content, but checks for truthfulness. About 95 percent of users who see those tags do not click on the post, because they do not want to see false content. If Meta stops using fact-checking, Europe will be more vulnerable, and the income of fact-checkers will decrease. Meta is not the only one withdrawing, but also TikTok, Microsoft,