The chairman of the IMC, Mr. Jeton Mehmeti, was a panelist at the 2nd Annual Summit of Peace and Democracy in Kosovo (KPDS), which was held on September 20-21 in Pristina, organized by several organizations: Sbunker, New Social Initiative (NSI) and the Kosovo Center for Security Studies (KKSS).

According to the organizers, this regional conference serves as an important platform for fostering dialogue and cooperation in the Western Balkans and creating a consensus for a Euro-Atlantic future of the region, at a time when the current challenges of the Western Balkans are increasing and undermining its future. Euro-Atlantic.

Within the framework of the Peace and Democracy Summit, in Panel V on the topic "Truth against disinformation: Combating foreign malignant influence in the Western Balkans", the participants were:

• Ana Marija Ivković, editor-in-chief, Alternativna

• Bardhyl Jashari, Executive Director, Metamorfozis Foundation

• Darko Brkan, President, Zašto Ne (Online)

• Jeton Mehmeti, Chairman of the Independent Media Commission

• Fitim Gashi - Moderator, Project Manager, Sbunker.

In this session, the President, Mr. Mehmeti, in his speech, presented his views on the subject of disinformation and the current challenges that Kosovo faces in this regard.

One of the priority issues that requires quick addressing is the need to reform the legal framework of media regulation in Kosovo, i.e. the current role and powers of the IMC, so that it is harmonized with the EU framework, which has followed step with the technological development also in the field of media.

The other issue is raising the public's trust in the institutions, respectively in the media regulator - the IMC, so that citizens through interactivity with the institutions, with complaints to the media or other forms, contribute to the fight against misinformation and malicious foreign influence.

Another way to combat disinformation is Media Education, for which IMC has a great interest in raising it to the next level, especially through more active cooperation in the media field.

But successfully facing the aforementioned challenges can only be done after increasing the authorizations of the IMC with the new law, which is in the process of being approved.

The panelists also discussed fake news in the countries of the Western Balkans region, the different interests that drive the production and distribution of fake news and the actors behind it, as well as the impact that fake news has had, starting with ordinary issues. social up to security issues in the region.