On May 26, the Independent Centre for Countering Disinformation (ICDC) hosted a new edition of the ICDC Discussion Club at Europe Café, Chișinău. The event was organized in collaboration with the Youth Media Centre (YMC), a key ICDC partner, and supported by the Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR), with funding from the UK Government.

This edition focused on the presentation of the Media and Information Literacy (MIL) Assessment Study, a comprehensive research effort carried out between January and April 2025. The study reached over 860 teenagers aged 14–19 from 31 regions of Moldova and explored how young people inform themselves, what sources they trust, and how they engage with digital content.

The event gathered over 40 participants from 13 civil society and media organizations in the ICDC network, alongside representatives from key public institutions, including the Ministry of Education and Research, the Ministry of Culture, the National Youth Agency, and the National stratcom Center.

What the study revealed:

• Top sources used: tiktok, Instagram, and search engines;
• Most trusted sources: news websites, parents, and traditional media;
• Widespread use of AI tools: including chatgpt for schoolwork;
• Low content creation: only 8% of youth post daily;
• High resilience online: but still limited reporting of fake content;
• Parental control is minimal: only 2% of youth reported active monitoring through apps.

Angela Vacaru, the lead researcher and author of the study, shared the methodology and findings, sparking a dynamic discussion about the role of AI in education, critical thinking, and online safety. Alexandru Ghețan from YMC highlighted examples of grassroots media initiatives and youth-led campaigns that build resilience and digital skills.

The session concluded with a call for stronger collaboration across sectors to close the gap between youth media habits and critical media skills.