Riga, Dec. 9, LETA. Democracies around the world need to voice their interests and take the lead in the process with full responsibility, Latvian President Egils Levits said at the “Democracy Summit” hosted by US President Joe Biden on Thursday.
According to the presidential press service, Levits noted that it would not be acceptable to take freedom for granted, as autocratic states persistently seek to undermine the democratic system by playing with people’s aspirations for freedom and exercising their rights.
“They use our freedoms, openness and openness to undermine social fabric and democracy. They spread misinformation through cross-border digital technologies. They go down to using migrants as a weapon in the fight to undermine and destroy friendly democracies,” he said. Levits, who pointed out to the summit participants that the joint forces need to increase their ability to face such threats.
The President emphasized that it was very important to promote the resistance of the population to disinformation. Social networks have become the main channel for disseminating misinformation and false news, which promotes populism, while populism undermines the quality of democracy.
“Therefore, we are actively working at the European Union (EU) level to reduce the impact of such negative processes on democratic nations. The NATO Strategic Communications Center of Excellence established in Latvia has accumulated ten years of experience in this field,” said Levits.
He emphasized that, at the same time, global platforms must guarantee users’ freedom of expression, and that censorship, even if implemented with the best of intentions, has no place in a democracy.
“We are equally active in the development of independent and high-quality media. Latvia is working to promote media literacy for all groups in society. Media literacy is also taught in schools,” said the President.
Levits noted in his speech that civil society plays an important role in building sustainable democratic structures, and Latvia always consults with non-governmental organizations on draft laws.
The President emphasized that autocratic regimes like to keep stolen wealth in Western banks and invest it in Western property, thus only increasing corruption in democracies. “We need to break this scheme. For example, in order to achieve a higher degree of transparency, Latvia has introduced wider access to information about the actual beneficiaries of joint stock companies,” Levits said.
Levits attended an online “Democracy Summit” hosted by US President Joe Biden on Thursday, LETA told the Chancellery. Biden has invited some 110 countries to a virtual “Democracy Summit,” including major Western Allies, as well as Iraq and Pakistan.
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