By Caribbean News Global
WASHINGTON, USA – On Thursday, April 4, 2024, US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen cooperation between the United States and Finland on countering foreign state information manipulation.
Foreign state information manipulation, which includes disinformation and propaganda, is a transnational security threat that can create or exploit divisions within and among countries, imperil election integrity, and undermine public trust in government.
In recognition of the threat to all democratic societies, the United States and Finland will expand information sharing about foreign disinformation, share best practices for countering it, and align policies along the five key action areas established in the US Department of State’s Framework to Counter Foreign State Information Manipulation.
This memorandum of understanding, signed on the first anniversary of Finland’s accession to NATO, represents the expanding coalition of like-minded countries coming together to protect an open, fact-based, and resilient global information environment.
At the signing of the MoU to expand collaboration on countering foreign information manipulation, secretary of state Blinken congratulated Finland’s one year of membership in the Alliance, ‘that is stronger, bigger, more united than it’s ever been. And noted that “ Our own bilateral cooperation between Finland and the United States is at a historic high. Finland has also been unwavering in its support for Ukraine.”
“The MoU that we just signed is also important,” Secretary Blinken continued: “It’s an initiative that will allow our countries to work more closely together to combat one of the new challenges of our time, which is misinformation, information that governments use to exploit divisions in our respective societies. Signing this today signals our shared commitment – Finland and the United States – to work together to combat it and to do so even more effectively. So I couldn’t be more pleased for this moment, but especially the last year.”
Finland’s minister for foreign affairs Valtonen acknowledged that “it’s such a pleasure that we are celebrating 75 years today of NATO,” and added:
“And of course, now having been one year an ally – we have to say that Sweden is also in our membership finally, so it’s complete. But a great pleasure to sign this memorandum of understanding countering foreign state information manipulation. The relationship between Finland and the United States is as broad as it is deep, with active collaboration across multiple sectors.
“Our relationship is built on a strong foundation of shared values and unwavering respect for the rule of law. Information manipulation is a growing challenge to democratic countries and open societies like ours, who also cherish the value of free speech. It is used as a destructive political instrument in attempts to influence minds, values, attitudes, and societies in an unacceptable way.
“The MoU refers to new technologies, including artificial intelligence. AI makes it easier to mass produce disinformation, but it also provides tools to track disinformation more effectively, “ minister for foreign affairs Valtonen, said: “So as an engineer myself, I try to see the positive sides of technology as well, which of course brings us all a lot of prosperity and opportunities for the future.”
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