“Truth in Motion” conference: Insights on Ukraine and the fight against disinformation
Czech Radio station Plus hosted the Truth in Motion conference, focusing on the quality of information and the role of the media. Among the speakers was Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
“The European Union alone cannot compel Vladimir Putin to agree to a ceasefire. What it can do, however, is provide Ukraine with weapons and support.” These were the words spoken by former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba at the Truth in Motion conference, held this week by Czech Radio’s station Plus.
The event featured discussions on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the threats posed by disinformation, with experts including Peter Pomerantsev, Věra Jourová, Misha Glenny, and Catherine Belton.
According to Kuleba, Russian diplomacy is notoriously fixated on details. “If the goal is to derail negotiations, you can bet they will engage in endless discussions over minutiae,” he explained in an interview with moderator Jan Bumba.
“Instead of agreeing on a ceasefire, they first propose assessing the situation on the ground, then exchanging views on the ceasefire, followed by setting conditions for it, then how it should be monitored, and so on. And that’s exactly what we are seeing.”
Catherine Belton, a Washington Post journalist, described the difficulty of negotiations at the conference. “Part of the U.S. administration has forgotten how to negotiate with Russia, so they came to the table like children. And on the other side sat Sergey Lavrov, who dismantled them thoroughly,” she said.
She also offered insight into the state of Russian military forces: “It looks like Russia currently has the upper hand on the battlefield, but if you look closely at the details—especially over the past year—they are running out of soldiers. Since the war began, about a million Russians have died.”
Belton added that the Russian economy is fragile. “It’s a false confidence. Russia believes it has time on its side, but analysis shows that next year Russia will face shortages of manpower as well as certain weapons.”
The world of disinformation
Another major theme at the Truth in Motion conference was the battle against disinformation.
“What we are seeing is an increase in a certain type of propaganda. It is a discourse that restricts democracy. Misuse of public spaces not in order to win elections, but to undermine democracy,” warned Peter Pomerantsev from the Institute of Global Affairs at the London School of Economics, where he co-directs the Arena program.
He also presented his approach to countering such disinformation. First, regulations should create an environment of “radical transparency,” allowing citizens to understand how social media operates. Next, it is crucial to create spaces that encourage democratic discourse.
“The third element is the content itself,” he continued. There must be a focus on emotions—specifically feelings of helplessness and trauma. Fourth, it is necessary to limit the supply chain of disinformation.
Pomerantsev’s view was complemented by Věra Jourová, former Vice-President of the European Commission. “I think it’s time to speak out clearly. Bots and artificial intelligence are not people, so freedom of speech protections should not apply to them,” she added.
Misha Glenny, journalist and rector of the Vienna Institute for Humanities, also shared his perspective on challenges posed by artificial intelligence. According to him, Russia and other states influence the source data for language models, which then spread their narratives.
“We are no longer living in a small, safe village; so much is happening around us that we do not fully understand,” he warned.
You can find all the debates from the conference [here].
