Investigating institutional counter-disinformation communications: A case study of the Russia-Ukraine war

调查机构反虚假信息通信：俄罗斯-乌克兰战争的案例研究

• 批准号: 2882561
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Loughborough University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2882561
• 关键词: Investigating; institutional; counter; disinformation; communications

Sophisticated foreign disinformation operations have become a key feature of modern military conflicts, whereby systematic information manipulation and disinformation play a leading role in the pursuit of military and geopolitical objectives, alongside conventional kinetic combat. Although state propaganda is not a novel concept, the dawn of the internet and the rise of social media has enabled malign actors to bypass legacy media platforms which once acted as the primary gatekeepers of political dialogue. The increasing frequency of foreign disinformation attacks has highlighted a key vulnerability of liberal democracies in the modern internet era, as foreign adversaries demonstrate their ability to pollute the information environment with false narratives in an attempt to influence public opinion and policy. Thus, there is a growing and urgent need to develop robust countermeasures which can effectively combat disinformation attacks. The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has been matched by a disinformation campaign of an unprecedented scale, directed not only at the people of Ukraine but also at many Western nations. The disinformation operation has sought to disincentivise international military and humanitarian support for Ukraine with English-language communications targeted at Western populations. However, despite being regarded as the information 'underdog' prior to the beginning of the war, the Ukrainian government's efforts to debunk Russian disinformation have been regarded as highly effective. Social media has represented a key platform through which the Ukrainian government has sought to dispel the information 'fog of war' and discredit Russian narratives. Therefore, the conflict represents a critical case study through which to understand the spread of disinformation and learn lessons about how unfolding disinformation campaigns can be rapidly rebuffed.The aim of this research project is to understand how the Ukrainian government utilised strategic communications to combat the Kremlin's foreign disinformation operation during the first two years of the Russia-Ukraine war. This research will advance the disinformation literature by evaluating a real-world counter-disinformation strategy alongside findings from strategic communication research in order to contribute towards the development of evidence-based counter-disinformation measures. This research will utilise a longitudinal case study design to allow for an in-depth exploration of Ukrainian strategic communications over time, capturing the initial reactionary communications to the invasion as well as the consolidation of routines and tactics. This mixed-methods case study will assess several information sources including news articles and social media posts, as well as interviews with counter-disinformation experts on the frontline of the information war. The findings will contribute to the creation of a counter-disinformation response typology which can be utilised by government institutions and policymakers to develop strategy and policy for countering future foreign disinformation operations.

复杂的外国虚假信息行动已成为现代军事冲突的一个关键特征，在追求军事和地缘政治目标的过程中，系统的信息操纵和虚假信息起着主导作用，与传统的动态作战一样。尽管国家宣传并不是一个新鲜的概念，但互联网的曙光和社交媒体的崛起使恶意行为者能够绕过曾经充当政治对话主要看门人的传统媒体平台。外国虚假信息攻击日益频繁，突显出自由民主在现代互联网时代的一个关键脆弱性，因为外国对手展示了他们用虚假叙述污染信息环境的能力，试图影响公众舆论和政策。因此，越来越迫切地需要制定能够有效打击虚假信息攻击的强有力的对策。俄罗斯在2022年2月全面入侵乌克兰之后，伴随而来的是一场规模空前的造谣运动，不仅针对乌克兰人民，也针对许多西方国家。这场造谣行动试图通过针对西方民众的英语交流，阻碍国际社会对乌克兰的军事和人道主义支持。然而，尽管在战争开始前，乌克兰政府被认为是信息“失败者”，但乌克兰政府揭穿俄罗斯虚假信息的努力被认为是非常有效的。社交媒体代表着一个关键平台，通过这个平台，乌克兰政府试图驱散信息“战争的迷雾”，并诋毁俄罗斯的说法。因此，这场冲突是一个关键的案例研究，通过它可以了解虚假信息的传播，并吸取教训，了解如何迅速回绝正在展开的虚假信息运动。这一研究项目的目的是了解乌克兰政府如何在俄乌战争的头两年利用战略沟通打击克里姆林宫的外国虚假信息行动。这项研究将通过评估现实世界的反虚假信息战略以及战略传播研究的结果来促进虚假信息文献的发展，以促进基于证据的反虚假信息措施的发展。这项研究将使用纵向案例研究设计，以便能够随着时间的推移深入探索乌克兰的战略沟通，捕捉入侵前的最初反动沟通，以及常规和战术的巩固。这项混合方法的案例研究将评估几个信息来源，包括新闻文章和社交媒体帖子，以及对信息战前线反虚假信息专家的采访。这些发现将有助于建立一种反虚假信息反应类型，政府机构和政策制定者可以利用该类型来制定战略和政策，以打击未来的外国虚假信息行动。