The three main takeaways of the Conference are the following:
1) In Europe, the focus is on weakening alliances like the EU and NATO, undermining democratic processes, and exploiting divisive issues like migration and energy dependency. In Southeast Asia, the focus is on asserting influence in territorial disputes (e.g., South China Sea), promoting the Belt and Road Initiative, and supporting authoritarian regimes to secure strategic and economic interests.
2) In Europe, disinformation relies heavily on global social media platforms (e.g., Facebook, Twitter), state-controlled outlets (e.g., RT, Sputnik), and sophisticated cyberattacks on critical infrastructure. In Southeast Asia, localized platforms like WeChat, Line, and TikTok dominate, with influence campaigns tailored to specific cultural and ethnic contexts, often amplified through grassroots propaganda.
3) Europe benefits from stronger regional coordination, such as the EU’s East StratCom Task Force, and a well-developed civil society that counters disinformation despite vulnerabilities in newer democracies. In Southeast Asia, responses vary widely; some countries (e.g., Singapore) possess the highest information security standards and use strict anti-fake news laws, while others lack robust frameworks, leaving them more vulnerable to manipulation due to state-controlled media and lower public awareness. Also in Southeast Asia, the distribution of FIMI experts are unevenly distributed across nations, with some nations having a very high concentration of top experts, whereas some others have little or no interest in countering FIMI; compared to the EU where all member and associated countries have more or less quite strong FIMI and fact-checking expertise.
The Conference was one of the truly international FIMI events that combined a global array of project leaders and scholars focusing on these dynamics across a wide range of countries, and really helped me contextualise our ongoing work on European FIMI dynamics.