THE IDEA OF THE ANTI-DISINFORMATION SUMMIT IN WARSAW
The concepts of disinformation and propaganda are inseparable from information. The digital transformation of recent decades has not only accelerated the transmission of information, but also inevitably developed the means to spread disinformation.1
The full-scale Russian aggression against Ukraine in 2022 also proved to be multi-dimensional. The theatre of warfare included not only kinetic warfare inside Ukraine, but also an information warfare. Europe and the world at large were – and still are – not only witnesses but also subject to Russian disinformation and propaganda, both before and during the hostilities within independent Ukraine. The American politician Hiram Johnson famously said at the end of the First World War: ‘The first casualty of war is truth’. In recent years this has become even more true. Poland, as Ukraine’s immediate neighbour and an active and multi-dimensional supporter of Ukraine, has itself become a target of Russian propaganda and disinformation. ‘Troll farms’ are actively trying to destabilise public and political opinion in Poland, as well as throughout Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltic states. It is important to emphasise that disinformation activities do not only have Russian sources and include activities that are not strictly war-related. The scope of disinformation is much wider and covers a wide range of issues that undermine the raison d'être of states and the security of individual countries.
In view of the ongoing war in Ukraine and the ever-growing threat from Russia, the processes against Russian lies must be vigorously deepened and expanded. This is one of the priority activities of the Polish state, in which the National Broadcasting Council is also involved. In accordance with its competences, media education plays an important role in this activity, in order to promote the ability to use the media consciously in society, i.e. to raise awareness of the methods of disinformation activities, to acquire skills to distinguish information from opinion in the context of disinformation, as well as to expose them by informing relevant institutions and organisations about the appearance of such content.
The National Broadcasting Council, guided by the above questions and at the same time relying in the fight against disinformation on the strength of cooperation and exchange of information between the national regulators of the audiovisual market from the Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Hungary and Ukraine, has organised a conference, the aim of which will be not only to exchange experiences, but above all to undertake joint programme activities in order to educate and protect their citizens against the spread of organised disinformation as well as multidimensional propaganda.
