Also, among the speakers of the CPD training seminar «Disinformation as an instrument of hybrid warfare: aspects of its spread and possibilities to counter propaganda» that took place on September 23 in Mykolayiv were:
Ms. Victoria GROMOVA, Deputy Head of the Television and Radio Broadcasting, European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Department of the State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine;
Mr. Valerii DYMOV, Director of the Center for Public and Information Technologies “Forum”;
Mr. SERHIY SYPKO, Honorary Consul of the Republic of Lithuania in Mykolaiv;
Dr. Maksym KYIAK, Expert of the Foreign Policy Council «Ukrainian Prism»;
Ms. Dar’ya HLUSHCHENKO, Speechwriter Analyst, Head of Communications Department at the Ukrainian National Bar Association.
Ms. Victoria GROMOVA, in particular, told about the experience of the State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine in the fight against propaganda. Among the main areas of activities of the State Committee of Ukraine in this issue she focused on the implementation of the budget program «Implementation of measures on European and Euro-Atlantic integration in the information sphere». In the frames of this program several large-scale All-Ukrainian information and educational campaigns aimed at informing the society on Euro-Atlantic integration have been already carried out, the All-Ukrainian creativity competition for media representatives for the best publication about NATO and about the state policy in the sphere of Euro-Atlantic integration has been held, a number of seminars in different regions of Ukraine for representatives of local media and NGOs have been organized. «Explaining specific points for the general public and teaching mass media to correctly communicate such topics, I think we’ll be able to essentially reduce influence on our consciousness, on our citizens’ consciousness. … The more a person knows, the better he or she is informed, the more difficult it is to manipulate him or her. I really hope we will get the victory on this way», – Ms. Victoria GROMOVA summarized.
«If you ask me, I don’t like the word «hybrid» because it does not open the substance of this phenomenon – it conceals that. As this is a real war, only let’s say, at other fronts which are weighted, strengthened by military aggression and military invasion», – Mr. Valerii DYMOV, Director of the Center for Public and Information Technologies “Forum” mentioned. However, there is every reason to view the existing situation optimistically now as the circumstances have changed, and the world does not accept the thesis about the «civil conflict» in the East of Ukraine any longer. According to Mr. Valerii DYMOV, it’s necessary to fight and to shape reality at the level of the international actor so as Russia’s disintegration would take place with the participation of Ukraine.
Ms. Dar’ya HLUSHCHENKO, Speechwriter Analyst, Head of Communications Department at the Ukrainian National Bar Association, told how to evaluate information sources and check the information content. In particular, the possible online ways to check videos, photos, accounts, websites are described in the «Verification Handbook» of the European Journalism Centre, that’s why the experts recommend it not only to journalists, but also to news consumers.
Dr. Maksym KYIAK, Expert of the Foreign Policy Council «Ukrainian Prism», shared his views on disinformation and its impact on the society:
- Disinformation is a much more system phenomenon than we used to think.
- A person and his/her mind is actually the main target of information attacks.
- Combatting fake news is a good idea but this is by no means a guarantee of victory in the information war. Sometimes refuting fake news is simply senseless.
- The Baltic States are under the strong information influence of the Russian Federation. The narratives that they are not independent, that they are the part of the Russian World, that they are pawns in the hands of NATO and the European Union, are very often distributed by Russian fake news media.
- Human will and human heart may actually become the most powerful weapon in the fight against disinformation.
- The acknowledged instruments for countering disinformation such as media education, digital education, strategic communications and public diplomacy should include humour which can reduce any opponent’s message to absurdity (example: a popular satirical show «Derzhites’ Tam» («Hold on There») in Lithuania).
- Every person is responsible not only for his/her own information security, but also for the information security of his/her family, city, country.
Please find the video from the event here: https://cutt.ly/GggcZ95.
The training seminar was held in cooperation with the State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine, the Mykolayiv City Council, in partnership with the Educational Platform CEGLA and funded under the Development Cooperation and Democracy Promotion Programme of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania Užsienio reikalų ministerija.
