16 September, Paris: Announced last week, a high-level international conference organised by the International Fund for Public Interest Media (IFPIM) and the Forum for Information and Democracy (FID), two initiatives championed by French President Macron and supported by the French government, will bring together a broad coalition of States and actors from civil society and the private sector, committed to defending free and reliable information. The conference will take place on 29 and 30 October and will be held as part of the 2025 Paris Peace Forum (PPF).
“We look forward to seeing you at the Paris Peace Forum on 29 and 30 October,’ said Anne-Marie Descôtes, Secretary General of the MEAE, announcing the event. ‘On this occasion, France will welcome the International Conference on Information Integrity, organised by the International Fund for Public Interest Media and the Forum for Information and Democracy. It will bring together an international coalition of states and actors committed to a regulated and healthy information space that promotes peace,’ she said, speaking to a ministerial event on information warfare, the fight against disinformation and support for independent media.
Ghana, a long time supporter of the International Fund, will also champion the Conference, and H.E. President Mahama will deliver opening remarks. During the two days of the conference, representatives from governments, foundations and the private sector will come together with the aim of strengthening and expanding the global coalition for free and reliable information, and providing it with the political and financial means to achieve its ambitions. The Conference will consolidate existing efforts, particularly around the framework of the Partnership for Information and Democracy, a multilateral cooperation mechanism led by the FID in which 56 signatory states to the Partnership have developed a set of principles and actions aimed at protecting the right to freedom of opinion and expression, as well as media freedom.
The conference will also aim to provide the coalition’s financial arm, the International Fund for Public Interest Media, with the financial resources necessary to respond to the economic shocks threatening the existence of independent media, and to compete with the means deployed by authoritarian regimes to manipulate information. The conference will be a significant step towards the Fund’s goal of raising €130 million to support independent media over the next three years. These resources will be used to scale up grant support to independent media, which are essential to the health of information ecosystems, and to fund innovation across the media ecosystem that will foster new financial models for independent journalism.
“Protecting the integrity and reliability of information is central to defending and protecting open societies and democracy,” said Pierrick Judeaux, Director of Policy and Ecosystems at the International Fund, welcoming the Secretary General’s announcement. “Independent media are the first line of defense against disinformation and information manipulation. Ensuring their survival is a critical security issue for all countries seeking to protect their democracies and global stability. This conference will bring together countries and organisations from all continents to build this common defense.”
“As the world order shifts, we enthusiastically welcome the organisation of this high-level conference by France and its partners,” remarked Camille Grenier, Executive Director of the Forum on Information and Democracy. ” Since 2019, the Partnership for Information and Democracy has been a leading political forum that has influenced most international texts and shaped thinking on the fight against disinformation, the sustainability of journalism and all citizens’ right to reliable information. We are also delighted to be able to organise this conference with our long-standing partners in Paris, now more than ever a global hub for information integrity.”
“At a time when the spread of disinformation fuels polarization and undermines trust, defending free, pluralistic, and reliable information has become a cornerstone of peace and democracy,” said Fabienne Hara, Deputy Director General of the Paris Peace Forum. “By welcoming this high-level conference within the Paris Peace Forum — this year’s edition focusing on “New Coalitions for Peace, People and the Planet” — we aim to help ensure public interest media have the resources and protection they need to thrive.”
About IFPIM:
Launched in 2022, the International Fund for Public Interest Media (IFPIM) is a bold, new
multilateral initiative designed to support independent public interest media in low- and middle-income
settings. IFPIM is an International Organization based in France, and supported by 19
governments and philanthropic donors. The International Fund provides grants to media organizations and ecosystem-level interventions across four focus regions: Africa and the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe. The International Fund’s mission is to ensure that people worldwide live in healthy information ecosystems, with access to journalism that provides their societies with information of public interest. To achieve this vision, the Fund aims to dramatically increase the financial resources available to support trustworthy, ethical, fact-based journalism, and to empower a resilient and independent media ecosystem that can work for democracy. In addition, the International Fund’s mission is to foster a paradigm shift in how public interest media is resourced, with the goal of ensuring it is independent, inclusive and resilient. To date, IFPIM has supported more than 120 media organizations in 31 countries.
About FID:
The Forum on Information and Democracy facilitates the implementation of the International Partnership for Information and Democracy launched by France in 2019 and endorsed by 56 Signatory States worldwide. It was founded by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and a group of leading institutions on digital rights, media and human rights. Since its creation, the Forum has published authoritative policy frameworks on issues ranging from How to End Infodemics (2020) to the Impact of AI on Information Integrity (2024) through Accountability regimes online (2023) and Media sustainability (2021). Mobilizing countries on specific issues such has Ukraine and Luxembourg on private messaging systems or Brazil and Armenia on climate disinformation, the Forum aims at ensuring that regulatory and self-regulatory proposals to tackle the information crisis remains in line with democratic principles. The Forum also hosts the Observatory on Information and Democracy which published its first meta-analysis of information ecosystems in January 2025.
About PPF:
The Paris Peace Forum is a platform to originate, shape & share multi-actor responses towards global peace & sustainable prosperity. By convening key decision-makers and fostering collaboration between governments, international organizations, businesses, and civil society, we ensure that diplomacy is not just discussed but reinvented to meet the demands of a changing world. For more information, visit parispeaceforum.org.
