On December 17-18, 2021, January 18-19, 2022 and January 26-27, 2022 FOICA and Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) organized “Empowering the Private Sector to Combat Disinformation” online training sessions for 81 representatives of 62 private companies.

Training was conducted based on “Fact Checking for Business” curriculum developed by FOICA.

The training was divided in three main parts. During the first session IT and media expert Artur Papyan and participants studied issues related to media literacy and disinformation and their impact on the business, as well as got acquainted with fact-checking tools. “It is important to be a media literate, but remember that the tool learned today may change tomorrow, so the knowledge gained in this field needs to be regularly updated”, – expert Artur Papyan mentioned.

A special part of session was dedicated to regulations of beneficial ownership transparency. The new regulations of the company’s beneficial ownership declaration provide new obligations for the private sector, the violation of which may lead to administrative and criminal liability. Thus, the training was aimed at answering possible questions related to this problem and raising awareness about this field. The head of Agency for State Register of Legal Entities Tatevik Mkrtchyan and Beneficial ownership (BO) expert Ani Varderesyan answered the questions related to the topic.

During the sessions the communication expert Nvard Melkonyan presented the business representatives the features of combating disinformation in the context of public relations, as well as cooperation between private companies and advertisers.