March 29, 2022 | Oireachtas TV

Ciarán O’Connor on the different sides of the information war between Russia and Ukraine

ISD’s Ciarán O’Conner appeared on Oireachtas Debates, a show on Oireachtas TV, an Irish public service broadcaster, as part of a panel interview discussing the war in Ukraine and spread of disinformation around the invasion, and misleading information from pro-Ukrainian parties.

During the interview, Ciarán lists the various propaganda narratives the Kremlin has been peddling to its own citizens including the so-called “special operation”, and the quest to “de-nazify” Ukraine, as well as amplifying sympathetic Western voices as much as possible.

Ciarán also goes into the defensive strategy Ukraine has opted for, and raises the question on how we process content that confirms our own biases. He points out that although some pro-Ukrainian misleading narratives are being produced, they are primarily centred on “calls for international humanitarian support, financial aid and even equipment to act in self defence against Russia. Ukraine has also gone in great lengths to portray the human consequences of the war and personify their efforts to withstand the invasion”.

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