Fake news

"In the last few years in Moldova, we cannot talk about progress, but more about regression,"  Nadine Gogu, executive director of the Independent Journalism Centre in Chisinau, told the Media Policy Forum in the Moldovan capital on Tuesday.

The conference "Corruption and the Origin of Fake News" was held in the European Parliament. It gathered over 120 Bulgarian public figures, citizens and European MP's.

Egypt's public prosecutor has told state prosecutors to take legal action against media outlets found to be publishing "false news, statements and rumors," he said in a statement on Feb. 28.

 Pope Francis on Wednesday condemned the "evil" of fake news, saying journalists and social media users should shun and unmask manipulative "snake tactics" that foment division to serve political and economic interests, Reuters reported. 

"Fake news is a sign of intolerant and hypersensitive

A top EU official tasked with fighting fake news called Jan. 15 for a European-wide response just days after French President Emmanuel Macron unveiled plans for laws to stop the phenomenon.

"It is our responsibility to help the" fourth power "- journalism is the backbone of democracy," said Bulgarian commissioner for digital economy and society Mariya Gabriel in an interview with the Belgian economic daily L'Eco quoted by the Sofia office of the European Commission.

 French President Emmanuel Macron has announced plans for a new law to combat so-called fake news, BBCreports. 

He said that during elections social media would face tougher rules over the content that they put online.

US President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter late last night that he will hold fake news awards next week, DPA reported.

Trump, who often defines fake news as critical of his government's media publications, said the awards would be "dishonesty" and "gruesome reflection."

Lucas Papademos, who was seriously injured when a letter bomb exploded in his car in May last year, has told Kathimerini in an interview that he does not regret assuming the post of prime minister at the peak of the country's crisis and decried a "deeply polarized political climate" which, he said, created fertile ground for terrorist attacks.

Australia's competition regulator said on Monday it would investigate whether U.S. online giants Facebook and Alphabet Inc's Google has disrupted the news media market to the detriment of publishers and consumers, reported Reuters.