EXPOSING AND COUNTERING PRO-KREMLIN DISINFORMATION IN

THE CEEC, project summary in Poland

INFORMATION WARFARE IN THE INTERNET

MAIN NARRATIVES IN POLAND:

• "West will not help Poland”

• "West is homosexual"

• "In case of the conflict in the East, Polish elites will abandon Poland”

• "Poland is America's vassal”

• "NATO is a tool of America”

• "The biggest threat today is in the cities in Western Europe. It is terrorism, which people fear the most, not the aggression from Russia”

• "Ukrainians have territorial claims against Poland”

• „European Union has to free itself from U.S. influence”

• "NATO acts like Hitler",

• "Poland should join fellow Slavs”

• "NATO is provoking Putin”

• "NATO's goal is to protect the interests of a small elite group”

• "Ukraine is a terrorist country”

• "Polish Lviv”

• "Ukraine promotes Bandera/UPA-OUN”

• "Ukraine is falling apart"

FAKE INTERVIEWS WITH TOP POLISH GENERALS ON THE EVE OF THE

WARSAW NATO SUMMIT

CASE1: FAKE INTERVIEW WITH GEN. RÓŻAŃSKI: WWW.DZIENNIK-

POLITYCZNY.COM

FAKE INTERVIEWS HIGHLIGHT THE KEY NARRATIVES USED BY THE

PRO-KREMLIN PROPAGANDA

CASE 2: FAKE INTERVIEW WITH GEN. TOMASZYCKI

FAKE INTERVIEWS ARE OFTEN PUBLISHED ON NEWS PORTALS (BLOGS

SECTION)

ONE OF THE MAIN OBJECTIVES OF THE PRO-KREMLIN PROPAGANDA IN POLAND IS TO UNDERMINE

THE FRIENDLY RELATIONS BETWEEN THE SOCIETIES AND GOVERNMENTS OF POLAND AND

UKRAINE.

CASE 3: TITLE OF THE ARTICLE: "UKRAINIANS ARE DEMANDING THAT POLAND GIVES THEM BACK A

CITY OF PRZEMYŚL WITH THE SURROUNDING COUNTIES”

THE ANONYMOUS AUTHOR - "ADMIN" WRITES: "BANDERA SUPPORTERS HAVE BEEN RUNNING RAMPANT

IN UKRAINE FOR SEVERAL YEARS. BACKED BY THE UNITED STATES THEY F IRST LED TO THE

DESTABILIZATION OF THE WESTERN PART OF THE COUNTRY, THEN AFTER HEAVY BATTLES THEY LOST

CRIMEA AND ALMOST THE ENTIRE EAST. NOW, NOT PAYING ATTENTION TO THE INCOMPREHENSIBLE

FAVOURING THEM BY THE POLISH AUTHORITIES, THEY AGAIN SHOWED THEIR TRUE FACE BY

DEMANDING THE RETURN OF PRZEMYŚL AND SEVERAL SURROUNDING COUNTIES".

THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED THREE DAYS AFTER THE VOLHYNIA MASSACRE ANNIVERSARY WHEN

THE PUBLIC DISCUSSION IN THE POLISH MEDIA WAS TAKING PLACE

TECHNIQUE: USING OLD QUOTES AS A NEW INFORMATION FOR

PROPAGANDA PURPOSES

TARASENKO QUOTES COME FROM INTERCEPT OF THE INTERVIEW PUBLISHED IN JANUARY 2014:

"THEY AGAIN SHOWED THEIR TRUE FACE BY DEMANDING THE RETURN OF PRZEMYŚL AND

SEVERAL SURROUNDING COUNTIES".

CASE 4: MISLEADING TITLE OF THE ARTICLE WHICH DOES NOT

CORRESPOND TO THE REST OF THE ARTICLE

IT IS THE GEOGRAPHY, STUPID.

COOPERATION WITH EEAS EAST STRATCOM TASK

FORCE, #DISINFO REVIEW

CONCLUSIONS

• Pro-Kremlin propaganda in Poland is extensive and multi-channelled (web sites, social media, YouTube).

• Trolling below articles is wide spread. Trolls focus on such topics as NATO, Ukraine, the European Union and Russia.

• common characteristics of the articles we uncovered is the fact that they are usually written by anonymous authors. This hinders exposing particular "journalists", which is especially important given the fact that one of our recommendations to counter pro-Kremlin propaganda is to name & shame the authors of those disinformation stories by putting them in the public spotlight.

• There are many articles which seem to be informative but are actually opinions, which makes it hard to report them. Mixing opinions and facts is a common pattern observed online.

• Pro-Kremlin propaganda in Poland manages, from time to time, to get into the mainstream media.

• What unites the analyzed web sites is their common and negative approach towards NATO and the European Union.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION