Yevgheny Magda, coordinator of the Bureau to Fight Hybrid War in Ukraine, recommends the Moldovan authorities to learn from Ukraine’s experience in fighting the propaganda in the mass media launched by the Russian Federation. The expert stated his opinion in the debate “Challenges in the media space of the Republic of Moldova – propaganda and national product” that was staged by Parliament in Chisinau on July 26, IPN reports.
The Ukrainian expert said that Russia is able to disseminate propaganda in the ex-Soviet states because it possesses historic archives of the former Soviet Union and of the former Russian Empire from where it can easily obtain information about the weak points of the countries where it wants to maintain its sphere of influence.
Another cause is the fact that before facing the noxious effects of propaganda, these countries used the Russian press, including in election campaigns, and thus allows Russia to influence the people’s vote as well. The expert said that in the case of Ukraine, the Orange Revolution scared Russia and this immediately started a ‘mild’ pro-Russian propaganda in Ukraine. Russia intends to keep all the former Soviet states in its sphere of influence, but it cannot influence the Baltic States.
According to Yevgheny Magda, the Russian propaganda can be combated including by the mass media and Ukraine decided to ban the Russian channels on its territory. However, many Russian journalists continued to work in Ukraine and to misinform after such a decision was taken. Russia invests a lot in its propaganda instruments. Neither Ukraine nor Moldova can afford this. The expert recommended the Moldovan authorities to permanently monitor the Russian media outlets as these can easily become propaganda instruments.
Contacted by IPN, Yevgheny Magda said the population of Ukraine didn’t oppose much when the Russian TV channels were banned and no protests were mounted. He noted that the forbidden fruit is the most wanted one and the development of the national broadcasting sector should be stimulated because any program in the Internet era can be found easily, even if it is banned by the authorities on TV.
