DEVELOPMENT OF STRATEGIC APPROACHES AND PRACTICAL RECOMMENDATIONS TO CONTROL THE SPREAD OF DISINFORMATION BY SOCIAL MEDIA IN UKRAINE ; ВИРОБЛЕННЯ СТРАТЕГІЧНИХ ПІДХОДІВ ТА ПРАКТИЧНИХ РЕКОМЕНДАЦІЙ іЗ ПРОТИДІЇ ПОШИРЕННЮ В УКРАЇНІ ДЕЗІНФОРМАЦІЇ ЗАСОБАМИ СОЦІАЛЬНИХ МЕДІА

Abstract

Problem formulation. The problem of organizing state and non-state institutions to combat the spread of fakes in the information space is to establish a parity (balance) between: citizens right to receive reliable/legal information protection, freedom of speech protection and expression (civil liberties) and protection of national interests of Ukraine. The existing imbalance caused by the lack of effective mechanisms to counteract misinformation and its dissemination through social media. In the EU countries at the state level the fight is not against misinformation, but with illegal (harmful, dangerous) content in the media and social media, which is ineffective for Ukraine in the face of existing challenges and threats related to the military conflict and occupation of part of state territory, as well as the Covid-19 pandemic. Previously unresolved parts of the overall problem. An unresolved part of the general problem is the lack of proper scientific substantiation of state mechanisms to combat disinformation and its dissemination in the media and social media. The aim of the article is to develop strategic approaches and practical recommendations for combating misinformation and its dissemination in Ukraine by social media in the context of information and psychological attacks and the Covid-19 pandemic. Main material. Digital technologies and information flows form practically all social processes faced by modern society. Thanks to built-in microprocessors, algorithmic devices and information systems combine texts, sounds and images that are easily stored and reproduced in digital format. The transfer of mass communication to the Internet has led to the transition of target audiences from traditional media to social networks. Without diminishing the benefits, opportunities and prospects that the digital world opens to humanity, it is necessary to actualize the significance of the negative side of the digital development of mass communication. Digital realities open up new possibilities for the introduction of various manipulation tools, among which misinformation is especially dangerous. Post-truth interpretation refers to artificial circumstances in which the emotions and personal beliefs of target audiences are more important than objective facts and evidence that become irrelevant, particularly in shaping public opinion and influencing the mass consciousness. Post-truth is not just the opposite of truth, but rather a phenomenon of purposeful introduction of proactive communication, which as a set of different and interconnected actions, due to its recombined qualities and combination of different components misleads recipients of information in order to subdue them. The consequence is a decrease in the level of trust in the received information and media. People are confused, it becomes difficult for them to separate true information from false information, they do not realize what is true and what media can be trusted. The post-truth politics is realized through "soft" and gradual transformation of the system of national values and moral principles into so-called alternative "universal norms of morality" to absolutize individual freedom, discredit expert opinions and rational discussions, and most importantly to destroy information sovereignty. One of the effective tools for implementing such a policy is gaslighting - a form of organized influence of suggestors (manipulators, politicians, officials) on the processes of public self-identification in order to disorient them and further subdue by provoking uncertainty and doubts about the adequacy of their perception of reality. Victims of gaslighting no longer trust their values, ideals and beliefs, and in despair they give up and by default fall under the influence of manipulators. Such people do not even realize that they are consumers of misinformation. Global networks are becoming a suitable environment for gas writers, as the constant presence of the vast majority of users on social networks and media channels is caused by the growing level of Internet addiction and digital autism, which create a person first addiction and secondly dangerous state of inability to maintain psychological support. languages with other individuals. That is, the digital transformation of everyday life contributes to the loss of people's communication skills of real communication. The loss of the ability to think adequately, independently and analytically is also negative, because the content and meaning of what is happening around them is formed by social media and digital algorithms of artificial intelligence. Influencing citizens by external propagandists' manipulation means disseminate not only criminal and illegal content through social media, but also directly implement political scenarios of changes in national values, the overthrow of the government, provoke armed conflicts, and so on. Disinformation contributes to a geometrically progressive increase in the incidence of the population, which leads to the introduction by the authorities of some regulatory (remediation) measures that may impair freedom of speech and freedom of expression, restrict freedom of assembly and access to public information. In order to obtain the necessary parity between the appropriateness of the application of regulatory measures to combat misinformation to protect the right to reliable and lawful information and the exercise of civil liberties (rights to freedom expression), it is necessary to legally define the grounds, limits and criteria limitation. The dissemination of harmful information cannot be overcome post-factum with the help of targeted sanctions, under these conditions rapid preventive measures are needed. In this context, the media play a key role in combating fakes and are accountable to the state and society for failing to provide accurate and reliable information to the public. Social media units, multinational corporations (digital producers), administrators of social networking platforms, non-governmental organizations and international institutions, civil society and independent media are the subjects of counteraction to the spread of disinformation by social media. Conclusions and recommendations. The significance of the negative consequences of the digital development of mass communication is actualized, the virtual reality of which opens new possibilities for the introduction of various manipulation tools, among which misinformation carries a special danger. It has been proven that misinformation is successfully disseminated through aggressive information campaigns and lack of knowledge about threats and existing vulnerabilities of society, and more effectively affects target audiences by disrupting the interaction (cooperation and communication) of actors to counter its dissemination at the national and international levels. It is substantiated that modern management processes are formed under the influence of post-truth policy, one of the effective tools of which is gaslighting. The main factors that contribute to the spread of misinformation through social media are identified: the effectiveness of the impact on the mass consciousness; scale, high speed and rate of distribution; stability of online presence (causes cumulative effect); intentional promotion of content by artificially adding it to disseminated information flows through popular media and resources; high quality, multidimensionality and variety of fake products, which are perfectly combined in the form of texts, images and videos; easy availability, high-tech and convenience of software for creating fakes. The necessity of disseminating positive Ukrainian narratives by social media as a tool to counteract misinformation and information defense of the country has been proved. It is proposed to involve the best representatives of the Ukrainian elite: patriotic politicians and public figures (opinion leaders), bloggers, volunteers, scientists, cultural and artistic figures for this case. It is substantiated that state public policy subjects of counteracting disinformation and its dissemination (Center for Counteracting Disinformation of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine and National Council of Ukraine on Television and Radio Broadcasting) flows in the middle of the country, if necessary, applying the necessary remedial action, study the target audiences, identify, analyze and assess their vulnerabilities (public fears, doubts, etc.), predict possible information attacks on Ukraine. It is necessary to constantly cooperate with digital media and mass media through information and communication campaigns. Practical recommendations were given to state/non-state subjects of counteraction of misinformation on struggle in Ukraine against production of fake content by means of social media. It is necessary: to create a favorable socio-economic, institutional-legal and information-communicative environment for quality and independent journalism, as well as an independent community of fact-checkers as a form of journalistic control to verify the facts used in texts, speeches, social networks posts and identify possible inconsistencies; to disseminate accurate, reliable and objective information on the basis of responsible and independent journalism, to prevent the dissemination of fabricated and manipulative content; to produce positive Ukrainian narratives as a tool of information defense, to prevent the emergence of fakes (instead of refuting fakes - to act in advance), promptly and without explanation to remove/block malicious content in accordance with the law and "community policy"; to set requirements for the media platforms transparency (their activities, funding sources, owners), define criteria and algorithms for ranking information, as well as legally and legitimately require social media to remove illegal content and block its distributors; to monitor, moderate and control the social media content on the basis of legality, transparency and compliance with international human rights standards with the use of means to protect them; to regulate and control the distribution of advertising on news resources of the media and social media, in particular to ensure verification of the transparency and veracity of its sponsored political content, as well as limit of its targeting in order to minimize the income of disinformation disseminators; to promote digital services of voluntary users identification in the online space; to ensure easy, fast and reliable access to all official documents, regulated by the Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents, ratified by Ukraine in 2020 (Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents, 2009); to delegate to search platforms and social networks to determine the truth/falsity of information using artificial intelligence algorithms, remembering that these algorithms can be used to detect/remove misinformation, and vice versa - to create fake information (for example, to form the necessary public opinion misinformation is directed to a specific target audience, taking into account its features and characteristics through algorithmic analysis of messages on social networks, preferences, a selection of sources of user content); to ensure that the majority of the population masters the media literacy and cyberhygiene basics, in particular to encourage and promote the introduction of specialized media programs on information and digital literacy for most people to understand the functions and ramifications of artificial intelligence algorithms, the ability to make informed decisions minimize the impact of threats (risks) associated with the use of such systems, in cooperation with relevant stakeholders, including the private sector, the media, civil society, educational institutions and scientific and technical institutions. Key words: post-truth politics, misinformation, gaslighting, mass media, social media, social networks, fact-checking, media literacy, information campaigns, infodemia, digital technologies, digital transformations, artificial intelligence algorithms. ; У статті охарактеризовано проблеми організації боротьби із поширенням фейків в інформаційному просторі, які пов'язані з відсутністю ефективних державних механізмів протидії дезінформації та її поширенню засобами соціальних медіа. Доведено, що в країнах ЄС здійснюється боротьба не з дезінформацією, а з незаконним (шкідливим, небезпечним) контентом, що поширюється у ЗМІ та соціальних мережах, що є неефективним в умовах існуючих викликів та загроз, які пов'язані з військовим конфліктом та окупацією частини території України, а також пандемією Сovid-19, спричиненої коронавірусом SARS-CoV-2. Актуалізовано значущість негативних наслідків цифрового розвитку масової комунікації, реалії якого відкривають нові можливості запровадження різних інструментів маніпулювання, особливу небезпеку серед яких становить дезінформація. Охарактеризовано управлінські процеси, які формуються під впливом політики постправди, одним з ефективних інструментів реалізації якої є газлайтинг. Визначено основні фактори, які сприяють поширенню дезінформації засобами соціальних медіа. Доведено необхідність поширення засобами соціальних медіа позитивних українських наратив як інструменту протидії дезінформації та здійснення інформаційної оборони країни. Визначено державні суб'єкти вироблення публічної політики з протидії дезінформації та її поширенню в Україні, а також надано практичні рекомендації щодо боротьби з продукуванням фейкового контенту засобами соціальних медіа. Ключові слова: політика постправди; дезінформація; газлайтинг; засоби масової комунікації; засоби масової інформації; соціальні медіа; соціальні мережі; фактчекінг; медіаграмотність; інформаційні кампанії; інфодемія; цифрові технології; цифрові трансформації; алгоритми штучного інтелекту.