At the concluding event of DisInfoHack 2026, held at the GATE Institute of Sofia University on Monday, Prof. Georgi Valchev, the university’s rector, emphasized the necessity for young people to develop robust critical thinking skills. He stressed that these abilities are vital for distinguishing authentic information from misleading or manipulated content in the contemporary digital landscape.
According to Valchev, initiatives such as DisInfoHack are crucial for bridging the gap between verifiable facts and disinformation tactics. He urged the youth to actively engage in building a sustainable information ecosystem to meet the challenges of the modern world. Furthermore, the rector cautioned that even seemingly reliable data can occasionally be co-opted and utilized as disinformation.
DisInfoHack operates as part of the broader Countering Disinformation Environment (Ecosystem) in Bulgaria (CoDE) project. This initiative is designed to strengthen information resilience through a scientific methodology. The project is managed by Sofia University through the GATE Institute, involving the European Studies Department of the Faculty of Philosophy and the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
The effort is conducted in collaboration with the Institute of Information and Communication Technologies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and the European Software Institute. The overall goal remains the enhancement of media literacy and the capacity of citizens to navigate complex information streams responsibly.
Topics: #university #rector #critical
