Countering Harmful Information

In recent years, international organizations have become increasingly aware of the negative consequences of Harmful Information (in the parlance of the UN), Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference/FIMI (EU) or Information Threats (NATO) in the context of their peace operations. As targets of harmful information, peace operations must protect themselves from and defend against attacks on the mission and its personnel in order to prevent or, if necessary, minimize damage (e.g., loss of trust or legitimacy). As an actor in the country of deployment, they can be part of the solution by countering acute disinformation and malicious narratives, which impairs the implementation of the mandate (e.g., support for elections and peace processes) and destabilizes the security situation in the conflict area. Peace operations can also try to mitigate the impact of harmful information by addressing the causes of conflict.

There are essentially four areas, in which peace operations can take action to counter harmful information:

1. Situational Awareness: recognizing the threat in the information space early on;
2. Response: implementing reactive, proactive and preventive measures such as strategic communication or community engagement;
3. Resilience: strengthening the resilience of missions and countries of operation against harmful information, including in the area of cyber security, and
4. Cooperation: establishing appropriate cooperation with national and international partners.
    

Since 2019, corresponding tasks have been increasingly integrated into the mandates of UN peace operations (MONUSCO/DRC, MINUSCA/ZAR, UNMISS/South Sudan, MINUSMA/Mali, which ended in 2023, and UNIFIL/Lebanon). For example, MONUSCO in the Democratic Republic of Congo is mandated to counter misinformation, disinformation and hate speech as part of its PoC mandate. To this end, the mission trained leaders of civil society organisations in North Kivu in 2025 to combat disinformation and hate speech. Most recently, however, the UN Security Council was more cautious in its explicit assignment of tasks in this area, as was the case with the extension of the UNMISS mandate in May 2025. 

The OSCE also contributes to strengthening the resilience of societies against disinformation through its activities in the field of media (promotion of media pluralism and information literacy of (civil) society). Eleven of its current 12 field operations have a corresponding mandate. To strengthen independent journalism in the Republic of North Macedonia, the OSCE Mission to Skopje, for example, supports the country's largest news agency. 

With its in April 2023 mandated EU Partnership Mission in the Republic of Moldova (EUPM Moldova), the EU has established the first mission to deal more comprehensively with FIMI. It aims to enhance the resilience of the Moldovan security sector in the area of crisis management and hybrid threats, which explicitly includes the fight against FIMI. Tasks in this area are the development of strategies, capacity building for early warning and support for the implementation of appropriate solutions.

As of 19.01.2026

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