This event will be held virtually. RSVP below to receive livestream information.
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About the Event
Please join the International Forum for Democratic Studies for the launch of its new report, Shielding Democracy: Civil Society Adaptations to Kremlin Disinformation about Ukraine. One year since the launch of the Kremlin’s unprovoked, full-scale invasion, Ukraine and its allies seem to be winning the battle in the information space, despite Moscow’s persistent and pervasive disinformation campaign. The conversation will share lessons learned from the coordinated effort to counter Moscow’s malign narratives, focusing on the critical role of civil society organizations in Ukraine and across Central and Eastern Europe.
With commentary from Peter Pomerantsev, Olha Bilousenko, Veronika Víchová, and Adam Fivenson, this lively, virtual discussion will feature the voices of experts and civil society activists deeply engaged in this fight and highlight lessons the broader democracy community can learn from Ukrainian successes to date. Iryna Smolina, a senior program officer on the Endowment’s Europe team, will moderate the event.
commentary from
Peter Pomerantsev, Johns Hopkins University
Olha Bilousenko, Detector Media
Veronika Vichová, European Values Center for Security Policy
Adam Fivenson, International Forum for Democratic Studies
MODERAted by
Iryna Smolina, National Endowment for Democracy
about the participants
Peter Pomerantsev is a British-Ukrainian author on contemporary propaganda and disinformation—and his university work examines ways to counter them. His research at the London School of Economics and, more recently, at Johns Hopkins University, where he is a senior fellow, teams sociologists with journalists to create content that engages audiences vulnerable to disinformation, conspiracy theories, and extremist ideologies. Mr. Pomerantsev has authored several award-winning publications, including Nothing is True and Everything is Possible and This is Not Propaganda.
Olha Bilousenko is a disinformation analyst and head of Detector Media’s Research Center. She specializes in Russian disinformation that affects women, representatives of the LGBT community, refugees, and other vulnerable groups.
Veronika Víchová is the deputy director for analysis and head of the Kremlin Watch Program at the European Values Center for Security Policy. She co-authored a study on how Kremlin propaganda portrays European leaders, published by the Atlantic Council, and an overview of countermeasures by the EU28 to the Kremlin’s influence operations. In addition to her research, she compiles the Kremlin Watch Briefing, a weekly newsletter on disinformation and influence operations.
Adam Fivenson is the senior program officer for information space integrity at the National Endowment for Democracy’s International Forum for Democratic Studies. He manages the International Forum’s information space portfolio, where he researches best practices and convenes stakeholders around countering autocratic information operations and developing healthy information ecosystems.
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