Russia's war against Ukraine has resulted in a cascading news flow, which may further confuse the public. And in wartime, the first casualty is the truth.
So how can we navigate through all this informational mess of uncertainty without falling into the trap of misinformation or manipulation?
There is only one solution - reducing the "fog of war". What is the fog of war? Military analyst Carl von Clausewitz defined it as a "fog of uncertainty" that covers more or less three-quarters of the actions on which military operations in a war are based. In other words, it's not that uncertainty of what you need to know but don't know. Rather, it is a desperate attempt by people to understand what they see or, more precisely, to identify what they fear most. PsyOps experts will always try to take advantage of the fog of war to manipulate the public. For example, the Russians now want to convince the Ukrainians that their situation is hopeless, and the Ukrainians want to convince themselves that there is a real chance of defeating the Russians if they trust in their own strength and resilience as a nation.
The first days of the war therefore seem to have been taken from another world that is difficult to understand. A "fog of war" that not only confuses, but subconsciously induces panic. And it can become dangerous if we don't follow a few simple rules:
Rule 1: Check the source. Only trust information from verified sources. Messages from anonymous sources should be treated with a large dose of scepticism, even if they are telling you what you want to hear. Check the date of creation of profiles on Facebook, TikTok or Telegram channels. Some of them may have been launched specifically to misinform or manipulate information.
If you end up reading a portal or page you don't know, check the information about the editorial team and the website administrator (under "About us"/"About us" or on search engines). If you find no information, or too little information, you are definitely reading fake news. Pay attention to the URL address because fake portals often change the names of important publications by one or two letters, so that we can't tell the difference.
Keep in mind that all sides in conflict are tempted to exaggerate their own victories and downplay information about losses. Pay attention to this data.
Rule 2: Double-check news even from credible sources. Even verified or official websites can be attacked by hackers and modified within minutes. We can't exclude the human factor: in wartime journalists work around the clock and can make mistakes. Especially as the situation can change so quickly that even verified material that appears in the news feed can become inaccurate in the meantime. Wait for new information to emerge, because it's the wisest choice.
Rule 3: Be aware of your emotions. Disinformation and propaganda in wartime is always exciting and seeks to arouse anger, indignation or strong emotion in us. Especially news about the wounded, children, the elderly or animals. This is not to say that all these categories do not suffer from armed conflict. But often such news is designed to influence the public mentally and can eventually cause them to lose their composure. It can even create panic among the civilian population if such news monopolises the entire news flow. Therefore, we must not fall into their trap to 'like', 'pass on' and/or 'comment'. Any online interaction with such content on social media only increases its speed of distribution, and the spread of fake news in wartime can have dramatic consequences.
Rule 4: Check the quality of experts talking about different areas. What did the commentator do before the outbreak of war? Does he or she have the necessary professional training and intellectual preparation to comment? Check carefully what politicians say about the war, whether they are newer or older in politics. Their comments may be attempts to gain more popular electoral sympathy. You should also be wary of statements made by eyewitnesses in military theatres of operations. Sometimes, it can turn out that the speaker, who has presented himself as a witness to an event, may in fact have seen nothing, and what is presented to us as a breaking news to be nothing more than a retelling of an urban rumour or myth.
Rule 5: Beware of satire. Surely you have come across various memes on social media with funny videos about the war. Well, things are as comical as they want to seem, and the little jokes aren't all that innocent. Most likely they were created with a military purpose to denigrate and deligitimize and even stir up emotions of hate in the context of psychological operations to manipulate opinion. Often, a joke can be misunderstood and readers can come to believe that they are looking at the real news. Convince yourself that you are not dealing with a reality created by the fantasies of terrorists or warring parties. Take the time to make sure the information you read is true.
Rule 6: While watching a video pay attention to small details. For example: weather, environment, brightness. Remember that a video uploaded 5 minutes ago could have been made 5 years ago in another place, even in another country. Or, in general, we can discover fully edited footage. You can use YouTube DataViewer – Amnesty International or extension InVID to verify the authenticity of the videos. Misinformation can also be spread in the form of a text accompanied by a photo which could be taken from a completely different source and altered. We recommend using Google Images or TinEye.com using the reverse search function to find the source of the image and whether it has been used before in another context. Don't forget that in times of war, the number of fake news stories increases exponentially.
Rule 7: It is very important to reduce the number of websites and news outlets we get our information from. So is time spent on social media, especially for children. Choose only a few sources of information that you trust and don't fall prey to the temptation to read everything that comes your way on the newsfeed. A cascading stream of information will only confuse you, increase your neurosis, and make our brains even more sensitive to fake news, manipulation or propaganda.
And most importantly: NO PANIC! Panic doesn't help anyway, but it is quite contagious. Especially in the age of social media, where a click can reach a multitude of users in less than a second. So keep calm and look after your mental health and that of your loved ones. Remember that waiting is the best of resources.
Dr. Nicolae Tibrigan, expert coordinator Digital Forensic Team
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