First Forum for Information Integrity

On October 12, the French Senate hosted the inaugural edition of our Information Integrity Forum.

Organized with the support of Cercle Pégase and at the initiative of General Bruno Courtois and Justin Poncet, the event brought together two hundred public- and private-sector decision-makers, researchers, military officials, journalists, and front-line practitioners. They gathered around a reality that might seem obvious, yet remains critical: information integrity is no longer the sole responsibility of governments. Society as a whole must ensure the defense and protection of the public sphere as critical infrastructure.

Hosted by Senator Isabelle Florennes, we spent the day exchanging insights and perspectives. Among them were those of private corporations, which are no longer mere victims of disinformation, but are now an active part of the response.

Observing and discussing these phenomena is already a first step toward taking action. Our sincere thanks go to Anne Le Hénanff, Minister Delegate for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Affairs, for opening the day. We hope this milestone will serve as the foundation of a shared framework for information resilience—not least by accelerating awareness, ensuring information resilience does not remain where cybersecurity stood a decade ago: a domain once thought to belong strictly to technical experts, but which in fact belongs in boardroom discussions.

The event was also the occasion to publicly launch work on the SPINE project, a prime example of innovation spearheaded by a European consortium of public and private stakeholders, media organizations, and NGOs.

Last but not least: the growth and maturity of this industry will undeniably rely on establishing clear ethical standards for professionals dedicated to combating information manipulation.

The event was held under the Chatham House Rule: an anonymized summary report will be available upon request starting next week.