“Disinformation weakens democracy not only by spreading falsehoods, but by manufacturing distrust." with these words, EPP-CoR Young Elected Politician Andreas Andreou, Councillor at the Municipality of Galatsi, brought a strong local perspective to EuroPCom the European Public Communication Conference, held in Brussels on 9 and 10 June.
Taking part in the Spotlight session “Countering FIMI – Practical strategies for political leaders at the regional level”, Andreou highlighted how disinformation is no longer an abstract threat, but an everyday challenge for municipalities and regions across Europe: "At the local level, we see how anonymous social media activity and manipulated digital content can create a misleading public mood around public works, municipal decisions and everyday community issues. The democratic response is not to silence criticism, which is essential, but to strengthen transparency, direct engagement and trust. Democracy is defended first in local communities.”
The interactive session brought together regional and local political leaders, Young Elected Politicians and public communicators to examine how foreign information manipulation and interference, known as FIMI, affects cities and regions. Through real-life cases shared by CoR members and a mini-masterclass led by Debunk, participants explored practical ways to respond to manipulation, strengthen resilience and develop solutions tailored to the local and regional level.
Drawing on his experience as Deputy Mayor responsible for the Press Office and public engagement in Galatsi, Andreou warned that local authorities are increasingly confronted with malicious anonymous activity on social media. This includes distorted images, premature generalisations and unfounded allegations about public works, municipal decisions and everyday community issues.
He stressed that public criticism and citizens’ complaints are essential to democracy. However, he warned that anonymous or coordinated online content can create a pseudo-negative climate that does not reflect reality, damages trust and diverts attention from genuine local problems. Andreou also underlined the growing impact of artificial intelligence, which is making manipulation easier while also weakening citizens’ confidence in the authenticity of online content more broadly.
For local and regional authorities, he argued, the answer cannot be limited to fact-checking. Instead, municipalities must invest in continuous, transparent and direct communication with citizens — through detailed public information, open dialogue, direct access to elected representatives and livestreamed engagement.
He also called for municipalities and regions to be recognised as a valuable practical advisory layer for national and European policymakers when shaping future rules on anonymity, disinformation and the use of artificial intelligence in democratic debate.
Andreou’s contribution underlined a clear message: defending democracy starts locally, by keeping citizens informed, engaged and connected to those who represent them.
Held under the theme “Be connectors: creating proximity in a fragmented world”, the 17th edition of EuroPCom focused on how public communication can rebuild trust, strengthen dialogue and bring citizens closer to democratic institutions.