IMI analyst: Censorship can not be an effective tool to fight disinformation

Institute of Mass Information expert Olena Holub, screenshot from the Facebook livestream by the Ukrainian Media and Communication Institute

Given how many information flows there are nowadays, censorship cannot be an effective tool for fighting disinformation, said Olena Holub, an analyst at the Institute of Mass Information, on July 3 at an event organized by the NGO "Ukrainian Media and Communication Institute" and Ukraine's National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting with the support of the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI in Ukraine).

"Nowadays, the media is deliberately trying to avoid the spread of Russian propaganda and disinformation, but does it get into Ukraine's information space? It does. The issue is not just the traditional media, but the many information flows which enable it to get through. And ut will get through, we can not avoid that. Censorship comes to mind, but it is not an effective way to deal with such a large number of information flows," said Olena Holub.

At the same time, the analyst noted that the public sector and representatives of media NGOs can influence traditional media, leveraging reputation to make them improve their content.

Moreover, Olena Holub called on the state to step up the cooperation with social media platforms to fight disinformation.