Let’s not yield a single square inch in the face of disinformation

For years, disinformation has been relentlessly testing the resilience of democracies. No country is immune to this danger, neither France nor the Philippines. It is worth noting however that few governments have deliberately harnessed disinformation as a full-fledged instrument of national influence – what is sometimes called information warfare. Russia is among them. And since the start of its invasion of Ukraine the 24th of February, several attempts have been made in the Philippines media to push forward its manipulated narratives. 

Facts are not an opinion: They are the very fabric of civil societies. Standing for them is an uphill battle for which it is worth defending every single square inch. Please allow me to re-establish some simple facts.

First fact: The will to preserve peace is hardwired in the DNA of Europe since World War II, in particular the European Union. There is hardly any other place on earth where this single idea has been so extensively translated into institutions, culture, and political behavior. Thanks to this environment, the Russian government led by Vladimir Putin had countless occasions to find paths to peace in recent years. Since the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014, France also contributed to efforts directed at stopping violence and defusing tensions, in the Normandy Format and other channels.

Second fact: Since the 24th of February, the Russian government has consistently rejected any mediation attempted by European nations, including France, to reach a cease-fire, avoid civilian casualties or facilitate humanitarian relief operations. On the contrary, it used time-tested techniques of disinformation, in attempts to justify the bombing of Mariupol’s Maternity Hospital N.3 the 9th of March, or of the Donetsk Regional Drama Theatre the 16th of March – and the list is endless. The 23th of July, less than 24 hours after signing an agreement allowing the shipment of millions of tons of grain blocked in Ukraine by the war, Russia bombed the port of Odessa – Ukraine’s largest export hub. Russian government’s promises reflect its conception of truth: its facial value is not backed by facts. 

Third fact: The path to Russian behavior in Ukraine has been well trodden. In 2008, Russia invaded and occupied the sovereign state of Georgia, and has been maneuvering since to force the separation of two of its provinces, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. In 2014, it annexed Crimea from Ukraine by force, a province of over 2M inhabitants twice the size of Palawan. Until 2022, it waged a war by proxy in the Eastern regions of Ukraine, supporting separatism. Since 2015, it has been providing military support to the Syrian regime, effectively enabling the massacre of hundreds of thousands of civilians and razing entire cities. Like in Ukraine today, it created a humanitarian crisis and forced millions of refugees to flee to Western Europe. 

The fact is today, the whole world has to pay the price of this constant disregard for peace: at the pump, in our grocery bags or when we are exposed to Russian disinformation. For that reason, we should all work together to bring an end to this war while making the Russian government accountable for its deeds.

***
Michèle Boccoz is the Ambassador of France to the Philippines and to Micronesia.