Center in charge counteracting disinformation to be subordinated to Moldova's president

The center in charge of counteracting disinformation will be subordinated to the president of Moldova. A draft law to this effect today was considered by the members of the parliamentary commission for national security, defense and public order.

The Center for Strategic Communication and Combating Disinformation will be renamed into the Center for Strategic Communication and Counteracting Disinformation. Thus, the institution will focus its efforts on counteracting disinformation through public education and prevention to reduce the impact of disinformation and prevent its occurrence.

The director of the Center is to be included as an ex-officio member of the Supreme Security Council. According to the document, direct subordination of the institution to the Moldovan president will facilitate better coordination of public policies, enhance responsibility and transparency. At the same time, this change will contribute to the more effective alignment of the state's internal and external policies, based on the president’s responsibilities in the field of national security and international relations. The center's director will be appointed and dismissed by the head of state.

It is also proposed to establish a new format for the advisory council alongside the Center for Strategic Communication and Counteracting Disinformation. The council's decisions will be advisory. Its members can be public dignitaries, representatives from the academic field, prominent professionals, representatives of strategic and developmental partners, specialists or experts with notable activity in public communication, security and defense, public administration, or international relations. Membership in the council will be voluntary. It will provide proposals for improving the center's activities and offer support in the areas of competence.

The draft adjusts certain terms, such as strategic communication, manipulation of information actions, and foreign interference, to the definitions used in the European space. New definitions will also be included for terms like sensitive security information, societal resilience.

Another provision addresses extending the action period of the Strategic Communication Concept till December 31, 2030, in order to strengthen the national strategic framework and ensure institutional efficiency in the fields of strategic communication and counteracting disinformation. The concept was approved for the period 2024-2028 and represents a public policy instrument coming from the National Security Strategy, approved for 2024-2030.

The legislative initiative, developed by a group of MPs of the Action and Solidarity Party (PAS), is set to be submitted to the parliament’s plenum for approval.