Google and Jigsaw have launched a media literacy initiative in Ukraine to combat the spread of disinformation online and build resilience to common online manipulation techniques. The initiative, which uses an approach called prebunking, is being implemented in cooperation with Moonshot and reputable local organizations and experts, including the Center for Countering Disinformation, Vox Ukraine, StopFake, Detector Media, Suspilne, and BBC Media Action.
Prebanking is a communication strategy aimed at building resilience to disinformation. It aims to help audiences recognize and counter manipulative content, building resilience to disinformation in the future.
As a first step of the initiative, implementation partner Moonshot conducted interviews to explore local experts’ views on disinformation and online security.
Moonshot conducted a thematic analysis of the interview data to identify common disinformation themes, methods of manipulation, and audiences that may be more vulnerable or targeted by disinformation. They provided further contextual confirmation through examples from social media across different platforms.
Manipulative narratives
Moonshot has identified current and emerging manipulative narratives circulating in Ukraine and has identified the following three main manipulative techniques:
- Astroturfing – This manipulative tactic involves creating the appearance of social movements through coordinated, inauthentic behavior, often using bots or fake social media accounts. In the Ukrainian context, it is usually used to target or artificially suppress or amplify specific content/narratives.
- Emotional manipulation – provoking strong emotions such as sadness, hopelessness, outrage, and exhaustion to prevent critical thinking about a topic. In the Ukrainian context, emotional manipulation is used to exacerbate the psychological exhaustion caused by the military conflict. Manipulation often stimulates intense fear and anger to exacerbate social divisions and to amplify existing frustrations with Ukrainian institutions and the war effort.
- Contextualization is the practice of removing information from its original context to create a false or misleading narrative. In Ukraine, fabricated or manipulative news stories spread confusion about which information or news resources are trustworthy. AI-generated diplomatic messages from prominent politicians and military figures also target citizens with calls for surrender or refusal to donate to the military.
Research and expert recommendations
Based on this research and with the expert support of local partners, three educational videos were created on these three common methods of manipulation in Ukraine. The research and expert recommendations helped shape the creative idea, based on the findings that the most vulnerable audience is young people and the older generation, and that people trust their loved ones the most when evaluating information. To reveal these points, the video uses realistic family dialogues with well-known Ukrainian personalities and their relatives in a kitchen environment.
This familiar environment reflects the place where many families have conversations. By showcasing conversations about disinformation that span different relationships and age groups (parent-child, spouse), the videos aim to teach viewers two things: how to recognize manipulation and how to protect their loved ones.
Popular Ukrainian personalities, such as TV presenter Marichka Padalko, artist Vlad Lefleur, and YouTube host Sasha Gontar, along with their relatives, portray typical family dialogues in the videos that illustrate each manipulation technique. This approach encourages viewers to have similar conversations in their own circles of family and friends.
The pre-banking videos will be distributed through targeted advertising campaigns on popular social media platforms, reaching audiences where they may be exposed to online misinformation. This strategy is based on the experience of previous campaigns and research conducted by Jigsaw in partnership with the Universities of Cambridge and Bristol.
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