Governments Key to Countering Russian Disinformation in Ukraine, Officials Say

Governments should never control the internet but should "preach self-restraint," said Roberto Viola, European Commission DG Connect director-general, Wednesday at a Prague hybrid in-person and virtual EC/Council conference on the future of the internet. The declaration for the future of the internet (DFI), now signed by 62 nations, says administrations will never legislate free speech, but self-restraint alone isn't enough, he said: Governments must tackle issues such as disinformation arising from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The U.S. is committed to DFI principles because it believes the internet has delivered extraordinary benefits for the U.S. and the world, but it's also aware of the policy challenges, said Tim Wu, special adviser on technology and competition to President Joe Biden. The DFI contains a set of baseline principles for nation-states to use regarding the internet, where "the trajectory has been going in the wrong direction."

We're close to a new deal for the internet, said EC Vice President Vera Jourova, urging cooperative, coordinated global actions that serve people instead of evil. The invasion has shown that democratic societies and citizens are able to resist Russia's brainwashing and do the right thing, and that there's a high level of resilience in these societies, she said.

It's not just online platforms that give space to disinformation, Jourova said. Traditional media outlets are paid to disseminate harmful lies, and there are state media and some state actors doing the same thing. Many of them are in national parliaments, the European Parliament and the U.S., and they gain political capital by lying, she said. The EU is serious about its efforts to rein in disinformation on platforms, she added: The internet "needs reasonable regulation which is reasonably enforced."

There are no simple answers to the "information warfare" connected to Ukraine, Viola said. One major problem cited by several experts is the absence of content moderation in languages different from the languages of the platforms. There are other issues as well, said Claire Wardle, chair-European Digital Media Observatory Taskforce on Ukraine. The focus on fighting disinformation is too Western-based, with few people having any idea of the realities on the ground. Large swathes of the populace are unsupported, and governments are often less than transparent. Officials, civil society, researchers and others "were just not prepared for this," she said. Instead of playing "whack-a-mole" with bits of content, stakeholders should monitor disinformation at a higher overall level.

Cooperation among platforms has increased since Russia invaded, said Daniel Braun, deputy head of Jourova's cabinet. Systemic issues remain, he noted, including insufficient cooperation by platforms with state institutions and civil society; a lack of cross-platform coordination; and too few social media platform staffers who speak the languages of the region and know what's going on. The EC has a code of practice for platforms to counter disinformation, and it expects them to adapt their terms and conditions to prevent war propaganda from landing on their sites, he said: The war is "a bit of a test" of the rules' effectiveness.

Meta has Ukrainian and Russian speakers in Ukraine and doesn't rely solely on AI, said Markus Reinisch, vice president-public policy, Europe and global economic policy. The crisis has been a "unique situation" for everyone, and Meta has been subjected to enormous pressure from Russia. This isn't an internal conflict in one country, but a war between two sovereign states, one of which has been condemned by the UN: Standing up to bullies has consequences, he said: Meta has learned that the "free and open internet is still an extremely fragile flower" that must be defended.

TikTok had a huge demand for information when Russia invaded, said Theo Bertram, vice president-public policy, Europe. There were many videos about the resistance and resilience of the Ukrainian people, soldiers were sending messages to their families, and people were tuning in to President Volodymyr Zelensky's messages. But the social media site also had an increase in disinformation and removed 40,000 videos during the conflict's first few weeks, he said. He urged cooperation with administrations, fact-checkers, researchers, nongovernmental organizations and others.