In wartime, information may serve as a weapon. The enemy can influence society's opinions and promote its narratives by manipulating and distorting the facts. In this article, the Charity Fund ‘Direct Inclusion’ will provide some rules that can protect you from fakes.

How to consume information correctly during war?

  1. Avoid click-baiting headlines. Strong, provocative, but unwarranted statements may be a feature of fake news. Sometimes excessive attention-seeking does not match the real importance of the post.
  2. Mind the source. It goes not only for open propaganda sources: enemies can often create copies of reputable sites by changing some letters in the domain name.
  3. Search for the primary source of information. If there are no references for the news or it is based on the opinion of unauthorized experts, then those may be fakes. In case of a reference, search for the information from there.
  4. Check photos and videos. Enemy can often post outdated or falsified images. Mind the details, e.g., language, season, weather, banners, storefronts, or other things that can help to identify the place from the footage. Also, it is a good idea to use Google search for images.
  5. Don`t forget about fact-checking. Find at least three independent sources that posted the information in question.
  6. Pay attention to evaluative judgments and conspiracy theories. Professional journalists have no right to give information some kind of emotional coloring or to express their own opinion in the news. Also, statements in the material should not appear as peremptory facts but only as pure data verified by an authoritative source.
  7. Check the balance of opinions. If there is only one point of view in the publication, this indicates that the news is either fake or created in the interests of a certain group.

Consume only true information!

Remember that one of the enemy`s main goals is to spread panic and despair and create conflict among Ukrainians. The Charity Fund ‘Direct Inclusion’ reminds us that to avoid falling into the trap of propagandists, it is necessary to check all the news for truthfulness and always keep faith in Victory.