Opening a scientific conference at the National Library of Latvia dedicated to the 35th anniversary of the country’s accession to UNESCO, Foreign Minister Baiba Braže warned on Wednesday that disinformation, propaganda, and artificial intelligence threaten democracy, social cohesion, and faith in the truth.
The Front Lines of Disinformation
The conference brought attention to how contemporary conflicts transcend traditional battlefields. As detailed in coverage from en.bb.lv, the minister emphasized that hostilities often begin long before physical clashes occur.
War begins not only on the battlefield. It begins with lies, disinformation, and attempts to manipulate people’s consciousness, divide society, rewrite history, and undermine national self-determination.
According to Braže, Latvia’s own history serves as a stark reminder of these tactics. The Soviet occupation decades ago was masked by staged elections and a fabricated will of the people, suppressing national self-determination and trying to erase collective memory.
Attacks on Cultural Heritage in Ukraine
Drawing parallels to current geopolitics, Braže noted that Russia employs similar methods in its ongoing aggressive war against Ukraine. Strikes on shrines, museums, archives, libraries, and UNESCO World Heritage sites are not merely infrastructure destruction.
Instead, the minister characterized these actions as targeted assaults on historical memory, cultural heritage, and the identity of the Ukrainian people. Furthermore, Braže accused both Russia and Belarus of attempting to exploit international organizations like UNESCO to justify crimes, spread disinformation, and secure political legitimacy.
In her view, nations that consciously destroy human lives and the cultural heritage of others forfeit any moral standing to hold leadership positions within international bodies.
The Dual Edge of Artificial Intelligence
Shifting focus to emerging technologies, the foreign minister addressed the complex role of artificial intelligence in modern society. While new tools help preserve, digitize, and make cultural heritage accessible, they simultaneously offer unprecedented avenues for information manipulation.
To counter these digital threats, Braže stressed that education, culture, media literacy, and rigorous critical thinking remain the most vital instruments for protecting democratic societies.
| Focus Area | Identified Threat | Defensive Countermeasure |
|---|---|---|
| Historical Memory | Rewriting history and erasing national memory | Preservation of truth and archival digitization |
| Information Space | Disinformation, propaganda, and AI manipulation | Media literacy, critical thinking, and education |
| International Bodies | Attempts by aggressor states to gain legitimacy | Excluding destructive regimes from leadership roles |
