Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security

On March 27-28, Kyiv hosted the third Kyiv Stratcom Forum, bringing together the leading experts in strategic communications from Ukraine and state partners. I am deeply grateful to all the speakers and guests for their participation, meaningful discussions and exchange of experience. Russia's full-scale aggression against Ukraine has proven that information manipulation is not only a communication issue but also a national security one. It threatens all Western allies and therefore requires a comprehensive and joint solution.  This was the key topic of our panel, Global perspective: cooperation in countering threats of foreign information manipulation and Interference featuring Lutz Güllner Jonny Hall, Marie-Doha Besancenot, Daniel Kimmage. Let me share the key messages I highlighted from this informative conversation. Lutz Güllner: “Tackling information manipulations requires the involvement of the entire society. The efforts of one ministry or agency are not enough. The EU has developed a 3-step mechanism for countering information manipulations: 1) understanding the nature of the problem, 2) joint resilience — preventing the problem from penetrating the heart of European society and European democracy, 3) regulating the information sphere”. Jonny Hall: “Ukraine has become a model of cross-cutting state and public work, managing to form teams of people countering Russian disinformation. Ukraine is an inspiration for the European partners. As we saw two years ago, we had not invested enough in building a mechanism that would allow us to respond strategically to information threats. We need to approach the problem in a comprehensive manner, build up capacities, increase coordination efforts within the country and cooperate more with our partners”. Marie-Doha Besancenot: “NATO will work with Ukraine to ensure full interoperability. But NATO allies are also learning from Ukraine. We have aligned our respective communication strategies and policies. We need to have a single centralised archive of all data so that we can analyse the information that interests us and develop joint approaches in countering information threats”. Daniel Kimmage: “We will not give up supporting Ukraine in their fight against Russian aggression. Multinational efforts are not easy, they can be painful, but they are important. And we are trying to do our part and will continue to do so: working on the diplomatic front, bringing more countries to our side, and seeking resources. A multinational approach is important. Involving partners increases your resilience. You are vulnerable on your own”. Thank you, dear colleagues, for your valuable opinions, experience and constant support of Ukraine!

YouTube needs to move away from the "minor activity" approach and develop a clear policy on harmful content that contains misinformation. YouTube must understand the threat from totalitarian and authoritarian states. They will keep making videos no matter how they shut down or demonetize channels.  The state and civil society need to be united and explain to social media that the core of the problem lies in propaganda content from totalitarian countries.  These are some of my thesis during the discussion on the "Spiral of Addiction: How YouTube Algorithms Promote Conspiracy and Propaganda" research at UKRINFORM yesterday. And heres the research by Texty.org.ua - https://lnkd.in/d9w3Y85K.

We at Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security held a 3-day training for governmental communication teams in Dnipro. Local teams are the first defence line responding to Russian propagandist attacks. The hybrid war is not decreasing for a moment, and the Russians are actively learning and testing new methods of influencing Ukrainians. Currently, the occupants are very actively spreading disinformation in the frontline regions, focusing specifically on local topics. We did the training, including local aspects, to help participants develop communication plans and strategies for responding to potential crises for their further use in the work of civil servants. The training was held by Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security with the support of UNDP Ukraine and the financial backing of Japan - The Government of Japan. We are grateful to all our partners for their relentless support!

In Mykolaiv, I had the privilege to work with colleagues who fight Russian disinformation during the first regional training on countering disinformation and strategic communications. Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security held a three-day training for representatives of the communications departments of the Mykolayiv, Odesa, and Kherson regional administrations and the departments of the State Emergency Service and the National Police of Ukraine. Grateful to UNDP Ukraine and Japan - The Government of Japan for support.