The enemy’s propaganda machine has been working in our and the world’s information field for years. The goal is quite simple but important: to set the agenda. Over the years, Ukrainians have seen a lot of fakes. In response, many courses on information hygiene have been developed. If you have participated in such events, now is the time to review the material.
But in order for you to understand how to fight the so-called fakes, you need to understand how they work.
First. Russian propagandists like Solovyova and Skabeeva are the tip of the iceberg. They are performers. All tasks and instructions are generated by the Russian special services. They generate and conduct full-fledged information and psychological operations. The goal, as we mentioned, is to shape your agenda and change the behavior of your target audience.
For example, the most recent known information and psychological operation was the so-called protest of propagandist Marina Ovsyannikova on Russian media.
This is an operation to whitewash Russians in the international community. Why? This is because Ovsyannikova’s alleged protest to a multi-million audience ended in nothing for her. To be more precise, the court fined her 30 thousand rubles.
At the same time, an ordinary Russian citizen is imprisoned for holding a poster on Red Square calling for an end to the war. Only a few people see this. And the alleged protest that ended in a global scandal cost $100?
Plus, there is a somewhat clear understanding of why Ovsyannikova could not have done this without the support of the channel’s management. At least because the studio is heavily guarded and the editor is in another room. And the key thing is that there are no live broadcasts on Channel One Russia.
And now Ovsyannikova is telling the international media that Putin is responsible for the war, and that all ordinary Russians are suffering.
Ovsyannikov’s special operation is a typical example of disinformation. When specialists create a legend that has clear steps. A resonant appearance, clickbait, maximum dissemination of information, and when this topic is in the top, the goal of the special operation is realized – to change the opinion of ordinary Russians.
The key criterion for disinformation is to change the behavior of the target audience in favor of the customer. Disinformation is always intended to mislead you.
At the same time, the arsenal of the information warrior includes not only disinformation. There is a word that is less popular among Ukrainian users, but the method is no less effective. We are talking about misinformation. Misinformation is false information. This is a consequence of our life in a time of total information flow from various sources.
According to a 1986 study by Martin Gilbert, a person receives enough information in a day to fill 40 newspapers. In 2007, thanks to the Internet and easy access to television, the amount of information increased significantly: the information a person received every day would fit into 174 newspapers.
Today, it is hard to imagine the amount of information we receive. After all, we receive hundreds of messages every day, consume and often share content that interests us or catches our attention. Dozens of telegram channels, Facebook and Instagram pages. And often we don’t even think about where this information comes from, it’s just interesting content. This is the realm of misinformation, when an ordinary citizen can create an information bomb without even understanding it. It was unintentional.
A simple example. Let’s imagine that a person is standing at a bus stop and sees a strange object with wires and a box. In times of war, our imagination can create the most horrific images in our heads. And a person might think it’s an explosive. But instead. To call the State Emergency Service and the police, she posts on her social media page. This is picked up by other users, and as a result, even the media, which, in pursuit of a scandalous headline, do not verify the information. The post goes viral, and there is panic. and this can result in, for example, a broken phone. This is an example of misinformation. But why do we say that this is a method of information warfare if it is unintentional? This is because Russian special services monitor our information field 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to dispel the traitor.
Many people equate the words disinformation, misinformation, and lies. This is not always the case.
A successful disinformation operation is of high quality when at least some of the facts in it are true. Let’s try to create a fake using this principle in a hurry. Its success depends on at least 20-30 percent of the facts presented being true. Today we offer you an information and psychological operation against the legend of Ukrainian football Andriy Shevchenko.
IMPORTANT! THIS SHORT TUTORIAL ON FAKE NEWS IS PUBLISHED SOLELY TO EXPLAIN THE CONDUCT OF SPECIAL OPERATIONS. THE USE OF SHEVCHENKO’S EXAMPLE IS USED SOLELY FOR THE BROADEST POSSIBLE UNDERSTANDING OF THIS EXAMPLE.
So, the key message of the operation is that Shevchenko is an FSB agent.
Why, because he has a very long history of relations with Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. It was Abramovich who insisted that the player join Chelsea in 2006. And recently, there have been many rumors in the media that Shevchenko could take over the London club. And what about the ex-footballer’s political past. He was the second number on the list of the Party of Regions’ Natalia Korolevska in the 2012 parliamentary elections. Coincidence?
There are several posts by some experts saying that they really have close relations and that Shevchenko is being prepared as one of the opinion leaders who will justify the Russian invasion. After that, a few paid news stories in the media and that’s it – the fake is ready.
Why? And let’s imagine that this story appears at a critical moment in his career in the national team and someone would like to dismiss Shevchenko from his coaching position.
You have to understand that before you believe any post or news, you have to analyze this information. First of all, we need to verify it, whether there is any confirmation, for example, of the information that Russian troops have entered Chernihiv, from the official communication channels of our government. From the Armed Forces or the President’s office? Or did this news appear exclusively in a few public telegrams?
If you want to receive reliable information, you should not scroll through Telegram, Facebook, or Twitter, but subscribe to official sources of information, a list of which is available on our website.
We also publish materials on information security and Internet security. Read and remember that the information you share can go viral and form a certain opinion about the situation in the community. And it can affect the moral and psychological state of the occupier.
Source: Center for National Resistance
