Media

In the Russian-Ukraine war, why do cyberattacks on the Media sector matter?

The media sector plays a vital role in providing information, as well as forming and informing public opinion. The use of botfarms to spread fake accounts and messages at scale to audiences, through to attacks to deface websites, this conflict’s circulation of disinformation and propaganda is being waged online with harmful offline impacts. Attacks on the media sector have been relentless in their attempt to disrupt and/or influence the information space through the spread of disinformation and propaganda and disabling or disrupting services to limit access to timely, reliable and official information to populations in both Ukraine and Russian Federation.

What types of attacks have been documented against the sector?

What impact do these attacks have on people?

Access to news and information services during an armed conflict is a vital public interest for a population as it is a means to receive official information from national or local authorities. News from media outlets can also help to inform the decision making of the population about the risks to safety, to flee or remain in an area, access to humanitarian aid, etc.

The spread of misinformation (incorrect or misleading information) and disinformation (deliberately deceptive) may cause harm to people and organizations. “Disinformation in armed conflict may pose several distinctive forms of harm to civilians: exposure to retaliatory violence, distortion of information vital to securing human needs, and severe mental suffering.” (Source IRRC,) Thus access to accurate, timely and reliable information is a civilian necessity during periods of armed conflict and measures are required in order to prevent the spread of, or counter, misinformation and disinformation.

What are the primary digital impacts observed on the sector by country?