UNESCO and the European Union are strengthening joint efforts to promote information integrity, freedom of expression and resilient information ecosystems across the Mediterranean, as geopolitical tensions and rapid technological change reshape the region’s media landscape.
The Mediterranean connects Europe, North Africa and the Middle East through deep cultural and linguistic diversity, shared history and long-standing traditions of dialogue. Its interconnected societies, active media and cultural sectors, and expanding digital access offer a strong foundation for cooperation and mutual understanding.
But officials say those strengths are under growing strain. Conflicts, geopolitical tensions, population displacement and fragile political transitions have created conditions ripe for disinformation and hate speech. Fragmented media systems, the rising dominance of social media, and unequal access to reliable information are heightening vulnerability to information disorders, eroding public trust and deepening social divisions — challenges compounded by fast-moving technological change.
A shared UNESCO-EU agenda for the Mediterranean
On Sept. 22, during the UN General Assembly’s High-Level Week in New York, UNESCO and the EU held a high-level side event examining how international and regional cooperation can strengthen information integrity in the Mediterranean while confronting disinformation and hate speech.
Participants included Dubravka Šuica, European Commissioner for the Mediterranean, and Mariya Gabriel, UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information.
Speakers stressed that independent journalism, freedom of expression and access to verified information are essential to building resilient societies, restoring public trust and advancing regional cooperation. They also pointed to potential synergies between the EU’s Pact for the Mediterranean and UNESCO’s normative frameworks and technical expertise in information integrity, digital platform governance, and media and information literacy — particularly through UNESCO’s Internet for Trust initiative.
Šuica said information integrity extends beyond media, calling it a matter of peace, security and sustainability, and noted that the Pact for the Mediterranean supports media literacy efforts, including for young journalists, across the EU’s southern partner countries.
Gabriel said responses to information integrity challenges cannot be developed solely at the global level. She said that since 2023, with EU support, UNESCO has built coalitions of governments, regulators, media organizations, civil society, academics and citizens to share experiences and craft responses rooted in both global principles and local conditions.
Pact for the Mediterranean provides policy framework
The Pact for the Mediterranean, launched in November 2025 by the EU and its southern Mediterranean partners, establishes a policy and cooperation framework aimed at building a more resilient regional information space. It seeks to foster an enabling environment for independent media and to strengthen networks of journalists, fact-checkers and content creators committed to trustworthy and pluralistic information.
Cooperation between the EU and UNESCO is already established at the global level, officials said, providing groundwork for expanded collaboration in the Mediterranean. Since 2023, the EU has backed UNESCO’s Internet for Trust initiative, which has widened participation in global policy discussions and incorporated regional perspectives from the Global South into international debates.
The initiative has also fed into global policy frameworks, including the UN Global Principles for Information Integrity and the UN Global Digital Compact, while supporting regional bodies such as the African Union and ASEAN in developing digital policies that safeguard freedom of expression and access to information. Officials said Internet for Trust has helped build a growing network of regulators, civil society groups, media organizations, academics and digital platforms working at global, regional and national levels to translate shared principles into local action.
