Finland and Denmark to support development of the Brazilian Strategy for Media Education

Next month, Brazil will initiate a cooperation program with Finland and Denmark focused on promoting exchanges of experiences and good practices among governmental specialists on the issue of “Media Education: Information integrity and democracy,” a common field of interest of the three countries. The initiative will be conducted through the EU program TAIEX (Technical Assistance and Information Exchange). It is the first time the Brazilian government will access this mechanism, an important tool in the context of the centrality of the issue of promoting democracy.

On Friday (23 February), during the meeting where the partnership was formalized, the Secretary of Social Communication, Minister Paulo Pimenta, highlighted the importance of this strategic partnership on the issue: “Finland and Denmark are world references in terms of media education. They will work with us on exchanging experiences in public policy. This is an urgent issue in the promotion of our democracy.” Pimenta also recalled that two thirds of the posts that attacked the credibility of the Brazilian electoral system came from outside the country, which reinforces the need of a joint action in media education and in facing misinformation.

The European Union (EU) Ambassador to Brazil, Marian Schuegraf, declared her excitement with the partnership. “Building a media education policy is a necessary and ambitious project in the face of Brazil's vastness. We are very happy to contribute in this process,” she said. Ambassador Schuegraf also highlighted that the advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) expands the need for media education for the promotion and protection of democracy, since studies have shown that AI is more beneficial to autocracies than to democracies.

Finland and Denmark were chosen for being references in media education. Finland's policies are the most applauded example internationally in this field, with dedicated actions since 1970. The country also held the first place in the Media Literacy Index for five years in a row. Denmark is one of the most advanced countries in terms of governmental use of digital tools, figuring in the third place in the same ranking.

BRAZILIAN MISSION - The first stage of the cooperation agreement consists of a Brazilian delegation going on a mission to both countries with the goal of understanding and mapping good practices in the development of public policies in the field of media education for the promotion of information integrity. The delegation will be composed of representatives of Secom-PR, EBC (Empresa Brasil de Comunicação) and of MEC (Ministry of Education). All costs associated with the participation in this mission will be covered by the European Union.

The mission is the first step towards a wider international cooperation on the issue with the two countries. It will contribute to the goal of training 300 thousand educators in media education, as budgeted in the 2024-2027 Pluriannual Plan. During the next stage of the program, Brazil will host representatives from Denmark and Finland for a dialog with the Government's technical teams. These representatives will also support the development of the Brazilian Media Education Strategy.

In addition to the EU Ambassador, the Ambassador from Denmark to Brazil, Eva Pederson, and the deputy-chief of the Finnish Embassy to Brazil, Ahti Tapio Torronen, also participated in the meeting with Minister Pimenta.