How to Stop Disinformation – Lessons from Ukraine for the Wider World
Publication Announcement
The latest ‘Beyond Propaganda‘ paper looks at Ukraine as a laboratory of information war. Authored by Marina Pesenti and Peter Pomerantsev, this publication examines initiatives undertaken by the government, media, and civil society and seeks to identify techniques that can help other democracies counter new forms of disinformation.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Information war and next-generation propaganda are among the most important challenges facing the world today. They manifest themselves in different forms in different places. Among them are the far right’s deliberate spread of conspiracy thinking in the US and Europe; China’s use of disinformation to extend its power in the South China Sea; and the online activities of violent extremists such as ISIS. The challenges are far different from those of the Cold War. Thanks to the globalisation of information, media and messages move easily across borders and into smartphones.
Movements and interests join and separate in constantly shifting trans-border alliances, making talk of “offence” and “defence” outdated. Inside democracies, the continued rise of political PR and candidates who reinvent reality at whim has led some commentators to claim we are living in a ‘post-fact’ world. Ukraine has been at the cutting edge of these challenges since Russia’s annexation of Crimea, described by the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO as the greatest “information blitzkrieg” in history.
Domestically, Ukraine’s information space is deeply distorted by oligarch-controlled media with scant respect for accuracy or objectivity. What can we learn from Ukraine’s responses? Did any of the strategies created in Ukraine succeed? Did others backfire? This paper looks at Ukraine as a laboratory of information war, examining initiatives undertaken by the government, media, and civil society and seeking to identify techniques that can help other democracies counter new forms of disinformation.
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Originally from Kyiv, Ukraine, Marina Pesenti spent 10 years with the BBC World Service in London, producing and presenting programmes. She was a winner of BBC WS Documentary Bursary Award and produced documentaries for the English and Ukrainian desks. Marina is Director of the Ukrainian Institute in London which promotes the country’s language and culture and encourages public debate around Ukraine-related issues. Marina gives regular interviews to the UK media. Her writing featured in OpenDemocracy and Ukrainian Novoye Vremya.
Peter Pomerantsev leads the Beyond Propaganda programme within the Legatum Institute’s Transitions Forum. He is also an author and documentary producer. His writing features regularly in the London Review of Books, Atlantic, Financial Times, Foreign Policy, and elsewhere, focusing largely, though not exclusively, on 21st-century propaganda. Previously, Peter worked as a consultant on EU and World Bank development projects in the former USSR. His book about working as a TV producer in Putin’s Russia, Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible, was published by Faber in 2015 and won the 2016 RSL Ondaajte Prize.
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Source: http://legatuminstitute-email.com/V6Y-4FYQ4-C9IH7HIH38/cr.aspx
Filed under: CounterPropaganda, Information operations, Information Warfare, Russia Tagged: CounterPropaganda, information warfare, Russia, Russian propaganda, Ukraine
