Контент мережі як чинник інформаційної агресії

Abstract

The scientific investigation is dedicated to the transformation of the media space of the region in the conditions of information aggression by the Russian Federation in the east of Ukraine. The purpose of the study is to determine the features of creating a massive information flow on a network basis with appropriate propaganda content and conveying through it to the audience those meanings that “work” for the goals of the aggressor country. The object of the study is directly separatist mass media and Russian information Internet resources that are actively operating in the regional media space. The relevance of the investigation lies in the need for a comprehensive study of the essence of changes in the media sphere of the temporarily occupied territory of Donbas in order to create effective communication actions and ensure the full implementation of national interests in the region. The conducted study allows us to draw certain conclusions. At the initial stage, the priority for the coordinators of the process of forming the network segment of the “DPR” media sphere was its quantitative growth, rather than the quality of the content array, as evidenced by the facts of posting materials on the created sites, often borrowed without any links from other sources, they did not always correspond to the declared mission of the resource, and the messages were often duplicated, their reliability, in contrast to the unambiguously anti-Ukrainian orientation, is highly questionable. At the same time, the formation of the flow of propaganda content on a network basis was characterized by a certain systematicity - each of the “DPR” Internet resources, as well as Russian sites that began to function during the study period, was aimed at a specifically defined audience in terms of content: either at the population in the conflict zone or other regions of the country; or at citizens of the Russian Federation and neighboring countries; or at the international community. Moreover, not only the territorial aspect was taken into account, but also the thematic one. The process of creating a propaganda stream was characterized by technological and rationality. The majority of the analyzed sites were developed professionally, user-friendly, had an individual design, and the content was updated with varying degrees of frequency. The possibility of free, without any conditions, viewing and copying of any information posted on the sites was presented. The online versions of almost all more or less noticeable resources are interconnected in a logical chain of the type “information site - social media account”, with mandatory cross-links to the posted content. Rationality is also observed in cases where some modern Internet resource, in the opinion of the organizers of the process, “has worked out its own way”, and a full stop is put on it without excessive effort and expense. This happened with the studied “robotized” sites, one of which was analyzed above. When the audience became more demanding about the content offered, it was simply “taken out of the game”. At the time of writing, links to “robotized” information fighters were already on a website like “Lady’s Women’s Club”, etc. In general, the online resources of the so-called “DPR”, declared as “independent sources of information” in terms of objective coverage of the situation in the temporarily occupied part of the Donbass territory, in fact, were and remain today characterized by all the signs of propaganda mouthpieces: distortion of reality, its falsification, presentation of events only in a black and white light, discrediting opponents by any means, active use of specific vocabulary, hate speech, complete disregard for the principles of journalistic ethics.