In November 2021 the founder of the Disinformation Resilience Network Initiative, Dietmar Pichler, launched the first "International Disinformation Awareness Day". He was supported by the Ukrainian Anna Pattermann, Chairman of the Vienna based NGO "Unlimited Democracy".
Back in 2021 the Covid 19 pandemic was accompanied by local and international disinformation campaigns that were a huge threat to our public health. The main motivation to start this day was the long term ideological subversion campaign by autocratic regimes, foreign interference aimed to undermine and destabilize our democratic societies. Russian propaganda against Ukraine did not start in 2022 after the full scale invasion. The war began in 2014, when a semi covert invasion of two oblasts and the annexation of Crimea took place. These activities were accompanied by a Kremlin propaganda campaign to hide its own crimes and shift the blame, for instance for the shot down of passenger jet MH17.
In 2025, years after the beginning of the Russian full scale invasion, we face increased activities of the Russian foreign interference campaign to undermine our support for Ukraine and to split and weaken our societies. Additionally we can see that an international autocratic information front is forming, supported by local actors, extremists, agents of influence or so called useful idiots, some even from the academic sphere, who parrot the dictators talking points.
This day aims to raise awareness of this issue and is dedicated to all the experts, journalists and volunteers who put a lot of effort into tackling this issue
despite all the resistance and obstacles. It also reminds us that protecting our information space is not only a task for institutions but a responsibility shared by all of us. Every citizen
plays a role in building resilience against manipulation and propaganda, no matter if it is overt or subtle.
Press Contact:
Dietmar Pichler
E-Mail: [email protected]