Disinformation: Opening speech by High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell
The price of wheat has increased. You do not have fertilisers, you cannot pay for the energy bill? “It is the Europeans’ fault”. “It is European sanctions”. “It is the European Union who is creating trouble around the world, preventing food [from] being exported and making the price of energy increase.”
And, when you are feeling the consequences - when you feel [them] on yourself, on your pockets, on your mouth - food insecurity is not an abstract term. For us, food insecurity is an abstract term. For many people, food insecurity means that you do not have anything to eat. Then, it is important to know who is telling what and what are people believing, who are people believing[Spoiler (click to open)]
And, today, that is clear: this war is not only conducted on the battlefield by the soldiers. It is also waged in the information space, trying to win the hearts and minds of people.
If the information is toxic, democracy cannot work. If information is manipulated, people don’t have a clear idea of what is going on. So, their choices are biased, and the information is the oil of the engine of democracy. We have to take care of the quality of information because is the sap, the blood, the oil, the thing that makes democracy work.
There are campaigns that swap causes and effect. They somehow portray the Russian aggression as a necessary reaction to an alleged threat by Ukraine or the West at large. “It is not Russia who is attacking Ukraine, Russia is just defending [itself] from an attack from the West.” I had to discuss that with many people around the world. “Well, in the end, Putin is only defending himself. You were attacking him. You, the West, you were attacking Russia.”
We have to address the issue politically at the highest possible level. And that is what we try to do. That is what we have done.
This is what has brought all of you together here today. Not only to complain, but to look for answers, to look for solutions, to look for reactions, to [take] action against it.
It presents clear trends in the threats against our information space.
One example: Russian diplomatic accounts have spread claims that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are just, and I cite, “neo-Nazi paramilitary units committing atrocities against civilians, including children”, and using explicit images and videos of killed and injured individuals, trying to demonstrate that it is the Ukrainian army acting like Nazis who are behaving like this. They try to organise demonstrations in European Union countries under the banner #StopKillinginDonbass.
Certainly, that is false, and we know it - but not everybody knows it. It is Russia who is bombing cities, playgrounds, schools, and hospitals across Ukraine. But they say it is the “Nazi Army” who is killing people and “we have to defend them”
They amplify lies about [alleged] military-grade Western biolabs in Ukraine targeting its neighbours.
In doing that, we are not attacking the freedom of expression, we are just protecting the freedom of expression.
People believe this is a European war. And well, yes, the war takes place in Europe, but it is not a European war. It is not a war among Europeans or not a war of the West against Russia - as Russia likes to depict
And, when you are feeling the consequences - when you feel [them] on yourself, on your pockets, on your mouth - food insecurity is not an abstract term. For us, food insecurity is an abstract term. For many people, food insecurity means that you do not have anything to eat. Then, it is important to know who is telling what and what are people believing, who are people believing[Spoiler (click to open)]
And, today, that is clear: this war is not only conducted on the battlefield by the soldiers. It is also waged in the information space, trying to win the hearts and minds of people.
If the information is toxic, democracy cannot work. If information is manipulated, people don’t have a clear idea of what is going on. So, their choices are biased, and the information is the oil of the engine of democracy. We have to take care of the quality of information because is the sap, the blood, the oil, the thing that makes democracy work.
There are campaigns that swap causes and effect. They somehow portray the Russian aggression as a necessary reaction to an alleged threat by Ukraine or the West at large. “It is not Russia who is attacking Ukraine, Russia is just defending [itself] from an attack from the West.” I had to discuss that with many people around the world. “Well, in the end, Putin is only defending himself. You were attacking him. You, the West, you were attacking Russia.”
We have to address the issue politically at the highest possible level. And that is what we try to do. That is what we have done.
This is what has brought all of you together here today. Not only to complain, but to look for answers, to look for solutions, to look for reactions, to [take] action against it.
It presents clear trends in the threats against our information space.
One example: Russian diplomatic accounts have spread claims that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are just, and I cite, “neo-Nazi paramilitary units committing atrocities against civilians, including children”, and using explicit images and videos of killed and injured individuals, trying to demonstrate that it is the Ukrainian army acting like Nazis who are behaving like this. They try to organise demonstrations in European Union countries under the banner #StopKillinginDonbass.
Certainly, that is false, and we know it - but not everybody knows it. It is Russia who is bombing cities, playgrounds, schools, and hospitals across Ukraine. But they say it is the “Nazi Army” who is killing people and “we have to defend them”
They amplify lies about [alleged] military-grade Western biolabs in Ukraine targeting its neighbours.
In doing that, we are not attacking the freedom of expression, we are just protecting the freedom of expression.
People believe this is a European war. And well, yes, the war takes place in Europe, but it is not a European war. It is not a war among Europeans or not a war of the West against Russia - as Russia likes to depict