Combating Electoral Foreign Information, Manipulation and Interference

Foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI) poses serious threats to the integrity of information in electoral processes, thereby undermining public trust in democratic institutions and procedures. The project aims to advance resilient and gender-sensitive democratic societies that can effectively counter FIMI during electoral periods.  

Specifically, the project will collaborate with civil society organizations (CSOs) to enhance their analytical skills, including gender-sensitive analysis, and their capacity to influence the behaviour and practices of other stakeholders. Analytical skills will be bolstered through situationally aware, context-based mappings that will shed light on the incentives and enablers of FIMI in each target country. Also, the project seeks to increase CSOs’ capacity to engage with representative institutions and social media platforms, in order to co-design policy solutions against FIMI as well as to hold government authorities and other responsible stakeholders to account at the same time.  

The selection of project implementation countries is guided by the Canadian government’s multi-country commitment to support countries in La Francophonie. Accordingly, the project will take place in four Francophonie countries in Africa and the Balkans, with Moldova being selected as the first country for implementation.

This page will be updated throughout the project period, providing details on project implementation, activities and results. 

Canada’s announcement of the project launch

At the third Summit for Democracy on the 20 March 2024, the Canadian Prime Minister’s Office announced the collaborative project to counter FIMI in the Francophonie together with International IDEA. The project is part of a wider commitment to strengthen democracies announced at the third Summit for Democracy in South Korea.