QUARTERLY BRIEF | Winter 2026

The Winter 2026 Quarterly Brief of BECID 2 outlines a period of intensive cross-Baltic cooperation, high-level EU engagement, and practical interventions to strengthen democratic resilience in an increasingly complex information environment.

Across Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, BECID partners advanced investigative journalism, media literacy, research, and policy dialogue, while addressing emerging challenges such as AI-generated content, platform governance gaps, and hybrid influence operations.

Key Highlights

• EU-Level Engagement: BECID experts contributed to major discussions hosted by the European Parliament, European Digital Media Observatory, and the European Health and Digital Executive Agency, focusing on AI literacy, platform accountability, and preparedness.
• Hot Reports with Strategic Impact:
  • December’s report exposed how a Kremlin-aligned influence actor operated for years in central Tallinn with public funding and institutional access.
  • January’s report warned that video games such as Atomic Heart and Smuta are increasingly used as soft-power tools to normalise militaristic and revisionist narratives.
• Propawheel Expansion: The BECID Propawheel now has a permanent home at the AHHAA Science Centre, engaging families and youth in recognising everyday manipulation techniques, including AI-generated visual misinformation.
• GLAM-Sector Mobilisation: Over 300 cultural professionals across the Baltics participated in BECID webinars exploring media literacy in memory institutions and the role of culture in countering disinformation.
• Regional Capacity Building: BECID experts delivered specialised training at the State University of Moldova, supporting the development of academic programmes on disinformation and societal resilience.

Media Literacy as Strategic Infrastructure

A central theme of this quarter is the integration of media literacy into national and European security frameworks. Estonia’s 2022–2025 Media Literacy Report confirms that influence operations are systematic, cross-platform, and strategically timed around elections and geopolitical crises.

BECID’s regional monitoring shows that resilience requires more than reactive fact-checking. It demands:

• coordinated monitoring,
• regulatory dialogue,
• cross-sector cooperation,
• long-term funding stability,
• and sustained engagement with vulnerable communities.

As a Baltic hub within EDMO, BECID contributes to cross-border research, comparative analysis, and policy alignment across the EU.

In a landscape where influence operations are adaptive and transnational, resilience must be equally systematic and forward-looking.

Read the full Winter 2026 Quarterly Brief here: