About this session
This in-depth session places participants within today’s rapidly evolving European information environment, where generative AI, synthetic media, and hybrid influence are not future threats but lived realities shaping citizens’ experiences. Moving beyond the traditional “real versus fake” paradigm, the session explores how AI-generated images, audio, video, and text interact with coordinated influence operations, platform dynamics, and emotional narratives to affect how citizens interpret and engage with information.
The session begins by establishing a shared analytical foundation around key concepts, including generative AI, deepfakes, synthetic media, hybrid influence, and AI-mediated communication. It then examines how these developments challenge existing assumptions about authenticity, trust, verification, and media literacy practice.
Through European case studies and applied discussion, participants will analyse how synthetic and manipulated content circulates across digital environments, how influence campaigns operate in practice, and what this means for journalism, education, civic participation, and democratic resilience. Particular attention will be given to the evolving role of media literacy in synthetic information environments, including emerging European approaches to AI and media literacy competencies. The session is designed not only to deepen understanding but also to support participants in adapting their own educational, journalistic, and civic practices to a rapidly changing media ecosystem.
Meet your Trainers
Vian Bakir is a Professor of Journalism & Political Communication at Bangor University, UK. World-leading researcher in false information ecosystems, strategic political communication, influence operations and digital media governance, with >1,600 citations (according to Google Scholar) for her landmark paper on Fake News and the Economy of Emotions (Digital Journalism, 2018). Combines deep scholarly expertise with direct policy engagement: advising UK digital media regulator Ofcom, UK Parliaments, European Commission, global technical ethical standards body IEEE, governments in Nigeria, UK, Australia, and global tech companies. Specialises in algorithmic manipulation of emotion and empathy, the influence industry, and governance of AI systems. Brings a globally inclusive, evidence-grounded perspective to complex questions of information integrity, online influence and AI.
Carlos Hernández-Echevarría is the Associate Director at Fundación Maldita.es. He joined the nonprofit in 2020 to lead its public policy and advocacy operation. He works with public and private institutions to research, evaluate, and advocate for more effective policy solutions to advance information integrity and fight against disinformation. He heads the policy task force at the association of European fact-checking organizations EFCSN and is a member of the Permanent Task Force of the DSA Code of Conduct on Disinformation, as well as an adjunct professor of International Journalism at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.
Alexandre Le Voci Sayad is a Brazilian journalist, educator, and author. He holds a master’s degree in Artificial Intelligence and Ethics from PUC-SP (Brazil) and a specialization in digital business from the University of California, Berkeley. He is currently pursuing an AI policies and education at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), Spain.
Sayad is the director of ZeitGeist, an innovation hub for education, culture, and media that develops global projects for corporations, governments, and the education sector. He also serves as a media literacy consultant for UNESCO, both at its headquarters in Paris (France) and its office in Montevideo (Uruguay).
On television, he hosts the program Idade Mídia on Canal Futura. He is also a columnist for Revista Educação. Sayad has authored and contributed to over twenty books.
He is currently a board member of the International Council for Media Literacy (IC4ML), Digital Communication Network (DCN), European Association of Viewers Interests (EAVI) and the scientific council of Comunicar, a leading academic journal published by the University of Huelva, Spain. In Brazil, he is a board member of Educamídia (Instituto Palavra Aberta and Google.org), ABPEDUCOM (Brazilian Association of Educommunication Professionals), and Bett Educar.
Target group: Media literacy educators and trainers; journalists and fact‑checkers; digital policy and civic tech practitioners.
What participants will learn:
- Analyse how generative AI, synthetic media, and hybrid influence are reshaping the European information environment and challenging traditional assumptions about authenticity, trust, and verification.
- Evaluate how media literacy practices, pedagogical approaches, and verification methods must adapt to address AI-mediated and synthetic information environments.
- Identify practical strategies, case studies, and competence-based approaches that support critical interpretation, civic resilience, and responsible engagement with AI-generated media.