In the early hours of 24 February 2022 Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began. Our whole team cares about this conflict and we call on everyone to think twice about their reactions on social networks in light of current events.
The photos, videos and texts that you will see in these days and the following weeks (above all on private profiles) may be disinformation and part of the so-called information war. Even your reaction, if it is negative at its core (a dislike, a negative comment, deep contempt), contributes to the spread of that disinformation and supports the disinformer who spreads such a message.
A specific chapter is the so-called disinformation websites, whose only activity is the creation and spread of such information.
What Is Disinformation?
Disinformation is false or untrue information spread with the aim of influencing your opinion or the opinion of a group of people. Its feature is that it tries to look as true as possible. It is often the opposite of true information.
The spreader of the information is called a disinformer, and their role in spreading disinformation can be active or passive. In the active role disinformation is created directly; in the passive one, a true message is withheld or delayed.
What Are Disinformation Websites?
We all know that the internet is a remarkable place. It is also a place where it is easiest to find any information. Because of this, the online space is a frequent habitat of disinformers – whether in discussion groups, on social networks or directly on websites designed for spreading disinformation. These are called disinformation websites.
What Tactics Do Disinformation Websites Use?
The disinformation that pours over us is often so sensational that it tries to provoke an immediate reaction, whether a comment, a like or its negative alternative. It deliberately exaggerates and distorts the situation and leaves out key facts. This leads to its viral spread, because its sensationalism is often greater than that of a genuinely true message.
How to Recognise a Disinformation Message?
1. Authorship
It often does not name an author, and the website on which the information is published has no traceable owner (neither a natural person nor a legal entity). The author of the article is a non-expert or unprofessional journalist with no traceable history. We recommend looking up the author and running their name through a search engine. It is enough to select the author’s name and right-click “Search Google for …”.
Trust information from established media with a transparent editorial team and history.
The author can also often be a disinformation website that specialises in spreading this kind of information. You can find a clear list of them here (in Czech).
2. Stereotypes and Labels
The article often refers to common disinformation topics – such as guaranteed recipes for anything, chemtrails, the new world order, a flat earth and other well-known conspiracy themes. The hunt for sensation is then amplified by the headline itself, often written in capital letters and containing words such as major revelation, lie, you will finally find the truth, everyone lied to you, and so on.
3. Sources
Disinformation articles cite made-up sources or none at all. Or they cite sources in such a way that they cannot be traced.
4. Time
Disinformation often uses old information that has been twisted and passed off as new.
5. Misuse of Images
A sensation-hungry photo is often edited, censored or used in a different context. We recommend searching for the image with Google image search. It is enough to right-click and choose “Search image with Google”.
6. Strong Emotions, Fear and Hatred
Disinformation messages try to provoke strong emotions about the topic. They often aim to get group A of people to express their hatred towards group B of people. No objective and independent medium can afford such one-sidedness.
7. A Comment from the Other Side and an Independent Statement
Disinformation articles contain no comment or statement from the other side or from an independent party. If they do contain one, it is often false and taken out of context.
Information War
Since the beginning of conflicts between anyone, information and data have been the most valuable thing. The so-called information war is an effort to gain superiority over an opponent in the area of communication or technology. Thanks to the strengthened role of information and data in our information society, information war is often a key part of modern conflicts.
How to Contribute Through Your Behaviour?
As stated at the beginning of the article, do not support the spread of disinformation, and therefore the information war, through your behaviour. If you are not a security expert, a war expert or a politics professional, do not comment on topics that you “know” only from reading a headline in large print, and definitely do not share them further if you are not sure that the information is true.
Verify the Information That Reaches You
Before we accept a piece of information and start passing it off as our own, it is wise to verify it. It is not within the power of each of us to verify absolutely everything, and that is why there are initiatives that check key information and the most widely spread messages. The projects currently most active are manipulatori.cz, demagog.cz and hoax.cz (all Czech).
Which Sources to Trust?
- We borrowed the list of sources from Jan Weisser of ČTK.
- In the Czech Republic these are: ČTK, Czech Radio, Czech Television
- Worldwide: BBC, AP, Kyiv Independent, Reuters (partly paywalled)
How to Contribute Financially?
You can use collections run by verified non-profit organisations (all Czech):
Sources you can also explore (in Czech, apart from the Avast article):