«Our friends in Moscow call it «disinformation». Our enemies in the USA – «active measures». I call it «the favourite way to spend time». At his time head of the Stasi, the security service of the German Democratic Republic, named in such a way what we are dealing with in Ukraine and the Baltic states today, namely the dominance of propaganda, fake news and manipulations», – Dr. Nerijus Maliukevičius, expert on information security, lecturer and researcher at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science of the Vilnius University has begun his speech at the event of the Center for Public Diplomacy.
On July 7 in Severodonetsk the Center for Public Diplomacy – in compliance with all quarantine security measures – held the first workshop «Disinformation as an instrument of hybrid warfare: aspects of its spread and possibilities to counter propaganda» for representatives of local authorities, public sector and mass media.
Such CPD training educational events invoking to think critically in «consuming» any information are the part of the project «Information wars against Ukraine and other European countries: Lithuania’s experience in tackling propaganda» that is funded under the Development Cooperation and Democracy Promotion Programme of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania and implemented in cooperation with the State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine.
«Lie has already become hybrid for years. Almost any fake in whole or in part is based on some fact or event which happened. It’s becoming more and more difficult to distinguish truth from lie as it is necessary to understand not only the context of situation but also to counteract in no less modern and technological ways. We are explaining and teaching all this at our events in the frames of the project», – Andrii Vitrenko, chair of the Center for Public Diplomacy, Vice Minister of Culture for European Integration (2014-2016) has mentioned.
«Today’s Russia is using fraud as a principle in media space, – Dr. Nerijus Maliukevičius continues. If at his time a famous artist René Magritte used fraud as an artistic device, having drawn a pipe and signed the picture «it is not a pipe», Russia, on the other hand, says the photo with the Russian soldiers’ image on the territory of Ukraine is fake, although in fact that is true».
Kateryna Smagliy, head of the Department for International Cooperation and Communications of the Hennadii Udovenko Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has told how Russia is using the soft power – Western think tanks – in distributing Russian fake news. «In 2016 the European Parliament acknowledged that Russia «aggressively uses a wide range of tools and means such as think tanks and special foundations… to fight against democratic values, to divide Europe, to increase the own internal support and shape the perception of the European Union’s Eastern neighbours as failed states».
Iryna Zhovta, chief specialist of the European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Division of the State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine has mentioned that it’s possible and necessary to counter information hybrid threats by informing about the EU and NATO, in other words, filling the media space by own appropriate messages.
Vitalii Moroz, expert on information wars and information security, head of new media at «Internews Ukraine» and Natalka Sad, expert on communications, board member of the Center for Public Diplomacy taught the participants to distinguish truth from lie. We’ll post all tips in our Twitter @CPD_UA – follow us.
