[ad_1]
Ukraine’s information minister said Ukraine is facing “tens of tons” of pro-Russian disinformation aimed at justifying Moscow’s false claims to the region and calming the ground before a possible new invasion.
With growing international concern about the threat of a large-scale Russian military attack, Oleksandr Tkachenko said his country is already under constant attack from anti-Ukrainian fake news, which is spread by Russia-linked TV channels, newspapers and social networking sites.
Photo: Oleksandr Tkachenko says his country is already under constant attack from anti-Ukrainian fake news
He told Sky News Ukraine was stepping up efforts to respond to the lies, but said it was taking time to educate people who might not immediately realize that the Twitter, Facebook or Telegram posts they were reading were false or manipulated.
Russia’s “information war” continues
“They (Russia) are creating a kind of false mirror,” he said, speaking at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy in the capital, Kiev.
“When you look in the mirror, you usually see a cute face…but they created a bubble where the reality was very different from what happened on the ground.
This information war from Russia continues to this day.
President Vladimir Putin stunned the world again in 2014 when he annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula with barely a single shot fired.
The operation—which took place in a gray area under the cusp of conventional warfare—was shrouded in a blanket of fake and distorted news stories that falsely portrayed the takeover as a local uprising against anti-Russian sentiment in Kiev.
It meant that many Western governments had embezzled – not fully appreciating what was happening on Earth until it was too late.
The Russian-backed insurgency in the east of the country was less successful as Ukrainian forces were able to limit land-grabbing, but the conflict—and disinformation—never stopped.
Photo: Video clip shows Ukrainian border guards opening fire on migrants trying to enter Ukraine from Belarus
Moscow ‘using fake news to legitimize its actions’
The government minister said the volume of fake news is growing in line with any new tensions – something that has happened over the past few weeks as Western anxiety has grown as nearly 100,000 Russian soldiers and weapons have massed near the Ukrainian border.
“All the time that any hot political issue comes up, yes, we see tens of tons of misinformation coming in from different sources,” said Tkachenko, a former journalist.
Asked if he thought the Kremlin was using false news stories to smooth the ground before an actual and physical invasion of Ukraine, he said, “Sure. But I think the number one reason they use this disinformation is to legitimize what they’re doing physically, what they’re doing on the international scene, and what They are trying to do – threaten Ukraine or seize our territory.
So, for them, this is a kind of defense: how to legitimize (occupy) Ukraine. “
Photo: A journalist in Ukraine uses video clips to counter what she says is fake news from Russia
Ukrainian politicians and journalists expose fake news
Another use of fake news is to undermine the authority of the Ukrainian government or falsely accuse Ukraine of a provocation that Moscow can then use as a pretext for military action.
One possible example is a video that appeared online earlier this month purporting to show Ukrainian border guards opening fire on migrants trying to enter Ukraine from Belarus.
The information minister said the video was fake. His department published a refutation.
Catch up on daily broadcasts on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and Spreaker
Ukrainian journalists and social media activists also play a role in building resilience to disinformation.
They, along with other organizations across Europe, produce articles, social media posts, and videos dispelling fake news.
Alyona Romanyuk, a journalist and vlogger, even set up a website with her colleagues to highlight what they believe are the dozens of lies and manipulations contained in a lengthy article on President Putin’s Ukraine published by the Kremlin in July.
“It was a guide about our history and culture,” she said of Putin’s article. “It was terrible.”
|
Sources 2/ https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMikwFodHRwczovL25ld3Muc2t5LmNvbS9zdG9yeS91a3JhaW5lLWZhY2luZy10b25uZXMtb2YtcHJvLXJ1c3NpYW4tZGlzaW5mb3JtYXRpb24tYWhlYWQtb2YtcG9zc2libGUtaW52YXNpb24tc2F5cy1nb3Zlcm5tZW50LW1pbmlzdGVyLWluLWtpZXYtMTI0OTg3ODHSAZcBaHR0cHM6Ly9uZXdzLnNreS5jb20vc3RvcnkvYW1wL3VrcmFpbmUtZmFjaW5nLXRvbm5lcy1vZi1wcm8tcnVzc2lhbi1kaXNpbmZvcm1hdGlvbi1haGVhZC1vZi1wb3NzaWJsZS1pbnZhc2lvbi1zYXlzLWdvdmVybm1lbnQtbWluaXN0ZXItaW4ta2lldi0xMjQ5ODc4MQ?oc=5 The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article |
[ad_2]