Preventing and countering violent extremism online through media and information literacy focus of OSCE training programme

On 1 and 2 November 2023, the OSCE Secretariat’s Transnational Threats Department (TNTD) and the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina held a training programme in Sarajevo on preventing and countering violent extremism and radicalization that lead to terrorism (P/CVERLT) through media and information literacy, with a focus on human rights and gender-sensitive approaches.

“At the OSCE, we believe that a whole-of-society approach, encompassing government and civil society, is needed to build resilience to disinformation, as well as violent extremist and terrorist messaging online. We must equip ourselves and our communities with the tools to discern fact from fiction, to think critically and analytically, and to understand the mechanisms behind disinformation in order to effectively counter its detrimental impacts,” said Irfan Saeed, Head of Action against Terrorism Unit at TNTD.

Bosnia and Herzegovina demonstrated its commitment to promoting media and information literacy to prevent terrorism and violent extremism by integrating it in its 2021-2026 Strategy for Preventing and Combating Terrorism and corresponding action plans. The next step is to ensure that media and information literacy as part of P/CVERLT efforts is not only reflected in the strategy and policies, but also implemented in practice.

To that end, the two-day training programme provided government officials, educators, media professionals and representatives of civil society organizations with insights into how to build media and information literacy to address information disorder in the digital space in the context of P/CVERLT and contribute to fostering social cohesion, ensuring human rights, and enhancing gender equality. Participants engaged in interactive sessions, practical exercises and case-study discussions that approached the issue from a local perspective. This deepened their understanding of how to develop strategies to tackle misinformation, disinformation and malign information effectively.

A specific emphasis was placed on recognizing the role of online media outlets and social media in propagating and mitigating violent extremist narratives, as well as in understanding the gender-specific challenges within these narratives.

The training programme served as a continuation towards implementing OSCE commitments to foster a safe and inclusive digital environment and strengthen resilience against the spread of harmful narratives. These efforts will continue through the extra-budgetary project “INFORMED: Information and Media Literacy in Preventing Violent Extremism. Human rights and Gender-sensitive approaches to addressing the Digital Information Disorder”.