OSCE Centre in Ashgabat holds youth training on media and information literacy to effectively prevent and counter violent extremism

On 24 and 25 September 2025, the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat, with support from the OSCE Secretariat’s Action Against Terrorism Unit, held a training course on media and information literacy in preventing and countering violent extremism and radicalization that lead to terrorism (P/CVERLT) in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

The training supported the Centre’s P/CVERLT efforts by addressing the challenges stemming from the digital ‘information disorder’, in the context of P/CVERLT. Over the two days, participants discussed and were introduced to tools that can help increase media literacy and thinking skills, incl. regarding Artificial Intelligence (AI), and build resilience to violent extremist and other harmful content. The training also focused on ways to address violent extremist and other illegal content online, while upholding fundamental human rights, including freedom of expression. The training course brough together over twenty participants, including students from universities in Ashgabat as well as representatives of the Youth Union, the National Red Crescent Society of Turkmenistan and a number of local public organizations and media.

Through presentations from international and local experts as well as a number of hands-on exercises in working groups, the training fostered multi-stakeholder co-operation while providing participants with the tools and practical skills to address the misuse of online platforms for VERLT.

“In the context of global information flows and emerging new technologies, the rapidly changing information environment create a source of serious security threats,” said William Leaf, Head of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat.

“Being active users of internet resources, teenagers and youth, may become an easy target for manipulation and aggressive influence by extremist groups,” added Leaf.

“The aim of this project is to increase youth resilience to violent extremism by enhancing their knowledge about media and information security,” he stressed.

The event follows the OSCE-organized training course on media literacy for representatives of Turkmenistan’s national media and state institutions, which took place on 16 and 17 September in Ashgabat and focused on current trends in the modern media environment. It builds on a curriculum developed under “INFORMED: Information and Media Literacy in Preventing Violent Extremism. Human Rights and Gender-Sensitive Approaches to Addressing the Digital Information Disorder".