Mongolia – The government plans to create a Ministry of Digital Affairs to defend democracy from disinformation

In a move to defend democracy from disinformation, the Mongolian government intends to create a Ministry of Digital Affairs, a Standing Committee on Digital Policy, Innovation in Parliament, and draft laws on personal data protection and cybersecurity, This came after the participation of the Mongolian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms. B.Battsetseg, in a webinar organized by the Friends of Defense of Democracy in cooperation with the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) on May 6, in Stockholm, under the title “Defending democracy from disinformation.” Ministers, Deputy Minister, and Ambassador from Georgia, Liberia, Mongolia, Sweden, Portugal, and Tunisia attended the webinar and exchanged views on their best practices and solutions to protect democracy from disinformation and build a resilient society. Ms. B.Battsetseg delivered remarks and pointed out that disinformation was becoming a harder problem in Mongolia in the current situation defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, the development of media and information technologies and resources. The Minister briefed on government policies and activities, such as Digital Nation, Ministry of Digital Affairs, the Innovation and Digital Policy Standing Committee of the Parliament, and draft laws on personal data protection and cybersecurity. Having viewed that global democracy was under threat due to regional conflicts and political and economic crises, the group of Friends in Defence of Democracy was established in 2020 at the initiative of Sweden. Today the group consists of Georgia, Liberia, Mongolia, Portugal, Sweden, Tunisia, and Uruguay.