Social media and war: how to protect yourself from fake news

The word is the same as a weapon, and in conditions of heightened media alarm, false information becomes a weapon of mass destruction. The enemy can only think of military escalation and implement it on the information front. The risks are lower and the "effect" is instantaneous.

What is the problem?

In addition to the physical defense of the territory of the state, it is important not to forget about the protection of information. Otherwise, panic and chaos will spread. And that's what the enemy wants.

What is the solution?

Here are 7 tips to protect yourself from misinformation and manipulations:

1. URL. Pay attention to the address of the media. A serious resource is unlikely to be called "yoshkimatryoshi.news.com" or present itself as a well-known media such as bcc.com (as in bbc.com).
2. Authorship. Fakes are usually published anonymously or refer to "reliable anonymous sources." If the author is listed, you can check them along with the name of the media for reputational scandals through Google search.
3. Date of publication. The easiest way to weed out inappropriate news. For example, "exceptional conspiratorial information that we will be attacked now," dated yesterday, is a fake.
4. Verification of information in reliable sources. Real "hot" news instantly spreads through news resources. In addition, there are many fact-checking organizations (PolitiFact, VoxUkraine, and on the other side of the news), which are also worth monitoring.
5. Experts. Reliable publications involve specialists, heads of ministries, etc. to assess the situation. Fans of manipulation and fakes involve some random "John Doe" to comment on their articles. Nobody knows them, and therefore you shouldn't trust their opinion.
6. Emotions. The foundation of the manipulative message is strong emotions. The less emotion and more factual information, the better.
7. Narrative. The key message of the enemy propaganda machine is "Russia is conducting a military operation to save Ukrainians from the Nazis and Bandera. The Ukrainian state itself is a misunderstanding, it has no future without Russia, and the nation is destroying itself." If the message falls under such a narrative, it is fake information.

Keep calm, trust the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and follow the rubryka.com news. We work to provide current news only from proven sources.