Sofia Information Integrity Forum

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The Sofia Information Integrity Forum is an annual conference, dedicated to building a trustworthy information environment in Southeast Europe and the Black Sea region.

We are pleased to announce that Jānis Karlsbergs, Senior Policy and Publication Manager at the NATO Strategic Communica...
30/10/2025

We are pleased to announce that Jānis Karlsbergs, Senior Policy and Publication Manager at the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence (StratCom COE) and Chairman of the Latvian Transatlantic Organization, will join us at SIIF 2025.

Session Title: “When Communications Become Strategic”

As a Senior Policy and Publication Manager at the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence (NATO StratCom COE), Jānis Karlsbergs is responsible for guiding research and providing operational support on topics like strategic communications, countering disinformation, and building information integrity. He leads multinational efforts to analyze how communication is used as a tool for influence and conflict.

In “When Communications Become Strategic,” Jānis will explore how communication has shifted from a supporting function to a core strategic lever in our security environment. He’ll address how narratives, platforms, and emerging technologies are shaping public perception, influencing decision-making, and becoming instruments of power in both peace and conflict, while also presenting some of the projects and policies of

NATO StratCom COE.

🎤 Speaker Announcement – Chris KubeckaWe’re thrilled to announce Chris Kubecka, cyber-warfare specialist and security re...
30/10/2025

🎤 Speaker Announcement – Chris Kubecka

We’re thrilled to announce Chris Kubecka, cyber-warfare specialist and security researcher, as a speaker at SIIF 2025!
Lecture Title: “Hacking Dictatorships with AI: Real-World Cases of Digital Sabotage and Propaganda Warfare”

Chris Kubecka is an American computer security researcher and cyber-warfare specialist.

She is the founder and CEO of HypaSec, and has worked with major organisations such as Saudi Aramco to rebuild critical infrastructure after devastating cyber-attacks. Her background includes service in the United States Air Force and roles in space command systems.

Lecture Abstract:
From Venezuela to West Africa, the Middle East, and the European Union, modern authoritarian regimes are arming themselves with “dictator toolkits”—AI, apps, websites, and the entire digital realm. Misinformation, propaganda, manipulated algorithms, and generative-AI videos now serve as the new weapons of control.
As one cyber-directorate put it: “AI is a friend — for your enemy.”
Drawing from her book How to Hack a Modern Dictatorship with AI, Chris will unpack real hybrid-warfare cases: Venezuela’s digital suppression systems, Romania’s election-influence mapping with “Influence Tracker GPT”, and AI-powered counter-measures developed by defenders — including her “ZeroDay” and “Pirate GPTs” used to sabotage government systems and cartel maritime drug trafficking.
Attendees will gain practical insight into the tools, tactics, and ethical strategies needed to expose and resist automated disinformation campaigns — where code, lies, and power collide.

👉 Don’t miss this eye-opening session at SIIF 2025. Register now at siif.info

🎙️ Speaker Announcement – Bozhidar BozhanovWe are delighted to welcome Bozhidar Bozhanov — former Minister of Electronic...
30/10/2025

🎙️ Speaker Announcement – Bozhidar Bozhanov

We are delighted to welcome Bozhidar Bozhanov — former Minister of Electronic Governance of Bulgaria and current Member of the Bulgarian National Assembly.

Lecture Title: “Practical policies to counter disinformation campaigns”

Bozhanov is a Bulgarian software engineer, tech entrepreneur and politician. He served as Minister of Electronic Governance from 13 December 2021 to 2 August 2022 and is currently a member of the Bulgarian National Assembly.
In his talk at SIIF 2025, Bozhanov will draw on his deep experience in digital policy-making to outline practical, implementable policies to confront disinformation campaigns — including how evolving EU legislation such as the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) offer new levers for transparency, accountability and platform resilience.

👉 Be sure to catch this high-impact session — register now at siif.info.

We’re thrilled to welcome Stephan Lewandowsky, cognitive scientist at the University of Bristol, to SIIF 2025!🧠 His talk...
30/10/2025

We’re thrilled to welcome Stephan Lewandowsky, cognitive scientist at the University of Bristol, to SIIF 2025!

🧠 His talk — “Technology, Democracy, and Cognition: From Pressure Points to Resilience” — explores how the design of our online information systems collides with the way human cognition works. In that friction, trust, democracy, and even our shared sense of reality are being tested.

Professor Lewandowsky has spent decades studying how misinformation spreads, why conspiracy theories take hold, and how we can build resilience — through fact-checking, psychological inoculation, smarter tech policy, and education. His research doesn’t just stay in journals; it shapes digital legislation in Europe and informs global responses to disinformation.

Join us at siif.info to hear him unpack how we can strengthen democracy in the age of cognitive overload.

🚨 One week to go until SIIF 2025! From November 5-7, 2025, join us in Sofia at GATE Institute for a vital conversation o...
30/10/2025

🚨 One week to go until SIIF 2025!
From November 5-7, 2025, join us in Sofia at GATE Institute for a vital conversation on the information challenges facing Southeast Europe and the Black Sea region.

🔍 The full agenda is now available on the website. 3 days and more than sixty talks and workshops
💡 You’ll hear from top-experts, policymakers, academics and practitioners
🌍 Topics include: policy & resilience; cutting edge research and technology, media-literacy & education; and info-operations & impact.

👉 Check out the programme now and register today at siif.info.

📣📣📣 Save the date! 🧠 Sofia Information Integrity Forum 2025 is coming soon!📅 November 5–7, 2025 | 📍 GATE Institute, Sofi...
08/10/2025

📣📣📣 Save the date!

🧠 Sofia Information Integrity Forum 2025 is coming soon!

📅 November 5–7, 2025 | 📍 GATE Institute, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”

Join leading experts, researchers, and tech innovators from across Europe to discuss the most pressing challenges in the fight against disinformation and the future of information integrity.

🌍 Key topics:
➡ Policies and resilience against foreign influence
➡ Tech and AI solutions for countering disinformation
➡ Media literacy and education
➡ Research and strategic communications

🎙 Featured speakers include Stephan Lewandowsky, Dr. Neville Bolt, Saman Nazari, Jānis Karlsbergs, and Inês de Matos Pinto.

Don’t miss this chance to connect with experts shaping the global response to information threats!

🔗 Register now https://siif.info/ and save the date

🎬 New Documentary: “Architects of Chaos” — How Disinformation Networks Shape Bulgarian Politics, partially filmed filmed...
31/05/2025

🎬 New Documentary: “Architects of Chaos” — How Disinformation Networks Shape Bulgarian Politics, partially filmed filmed during

How do seemingly innocent Facebook groups with coffee fortune memes become tools of political propaganda? Who pays people to spread lies online—and how much does it cost to manipulate public opinion?
“Architects of Chaos” is a bold new documentary by investigative journalist Maya Dimitrova (BNT), exposing the invisible architecture behind Bulgaria’s disinformation networks. It reveals how well-organized propaganda operations are used to support political agendas, sow division, and control public perception.

💣 Behind hundreds of fake news websites and anonymous profiles lies a pyramid-like structure, where participants earn money for spreading disinformation—and even more if they recruit others. One of the most striking voices in the film is “Radka,” a government employee who shares fake news online for extra income. From harmless-sounding remedies to hate campaigns against refugees, LGBTQ+ people, and vulnerable groups—this is the frontline of informational warfare.

📌 The film exemplifies a four-phase strategy of influence:
* Seeding and amplifying fake news to identify societal fault lines.
* Mobilizing orchestrated protests through disinformation-fueled outrage.
* Creating political parties built on manipulated narratives.
* Infiltrating schools and youth spaces with nationalist ideology under religious and patriotic branding.

🌍 The Bulgarian case is placed in a broader international context, showing how similar Kremlin-style tactics are adapted locally—not to glorify Russia, but to destabilize democracy.

🎤 Featuring exclusive interviews with Mark Galeotti on Russia and Neville Bolt , filmed during , the film also includes insights from leading Bulgarian experts in the field of information integrity.

⏰ Though aired by Българска национална телевизия. БНТ in a late-night slot, the film is now available online — with English subtitles.

📺 Watch it now on YouTube. 🔗 Link in the first comment

📢 Anna Arevadze from ForSet • ფორსეტი on Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence against women content creators in...
17/04/2025

📢 Anna Arevadze from ForSet • ფორსეტი on Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence against women content creators in Georgia.

As social media becomes a space for political and social expression, women content creators in Georgia are increasingly targeted with hate, threats, and harassment. Forset’s groundbreaking research highlights this overlooked issue and calls for urgent action—from stronger support systems to policy change.
🎥 Watch the full talk and learn why this matters more than ever:
👉 Link in the comments

🎥 “TFGBV Against Women in Politics and Public Life in Georgia” – a must-watch talk by Teona Dalakishvili from IREX.What ...
17/04/2025

🎥 “TFGBV Against Women in Politics and Public Life in Georgia” – a must-watch talk by Teona Dalakishvili from IREX.
What happens when online violence becomes a political tool? In Georgia, women in politics and public life face increasing tech-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV)—harassment, doxxing, disinformation, and threats, often backed by state-linked actors.
Teona shares powerful insights from the IREX-led Transform program, working in Georgia, Kenya, and Guatemala to combat this global threat. From research to survivor support, digital safety tools to advocacy, this talk highlights the urgent need for systemic change and solidarity.

🎯 If you care about gender justice, democracy, or digital rights—this is essential viewing.

📺 Watch now: (link in the first comment)

🎙️ Eliza Kotowska from the Instytut Kościuszki presents a powerful investigation into how gendered disinformation shaped...
17/04/2025

🎙️ Eliza Kotowska from the Instytut Kościuszki presents a powerful investigation into how gendered disinformation shaped the online landscape during Poland’s 2023 elections.
From AI-generated images to weaponized stereotypes, female politicians were disproportionately targeted with hate speech and false narratives—portrayed as too emotional, unintelligent, or sexualized, while men were critiqued based on ideology. This talk exposes how gender norms and disinformation collide in cyberspace, and what we must do to fight back.
🎥 Watch the full presentation at the link in first comment

🌍💬 How can we tackle gender and identity disinformation (GID) to build inclusive, democratic societies?In her powerful p...
17/04/2025

🌍💬 How can we tackle gender and identity disinformation (GID) to build inclusive, democratic societies?
In her powerful presentation at , Kate Llewellyn, Senior Project Manager at Artemis Alliance, shares how innovative, research-driven campaigns in Armenia are combating harmful narratives targeting women and LGBTQ+ individuals. From empowering women leaders through social media to advocating for their roles in peacebuilding, these initiatives are making a real impact.
📺 Watch the full video to learn how these locally tailored efforts reached millions and inspired change:
Let’s work together to counter disinformation and build resilience against polarizing narratives. 💪✨


Link to YouTube video in the first comment!

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