Countering Disinformation

In recent years, international organizations have become increasingly aware of the negative consequences of disinformation in the context of their peace operations. As targets of disinformation, peace operations must protect themselves from and defend against attacks on the mission and its personnel in order to prevent or, if necessary, minimize damage (e.g., loss of trust or legitimacy). As an actor in the country of deployment, they can be part of the solution by countering acute disinformation, which impairs the implementation of the mandate (e.g., support for elections and peace processes) and destabilizes the security situation in the conflict area. Peace operations can also try to mitigate the impact of disinformation by addressing the causes of conflict.

There are essentially four areas, in which peace operations can take action to counter disinformation:

  1. Situational Awareness: recognizing the threat in the information space early on;
  2. Response: establishing efficient structures of strategic communication;
  3. Resilience: strengthening the resilience of missions and countries of operation against disinformation, and
  4. Cooperation: establishing appropriate cooperation with national and
  5. international partners.
     

Corresponding tasks are increasingly being included in the mandates of peace operations. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, for example, MONUSCO is mandated to counter misinformation, disinformation and hate speech as part of its PoC (Protection of Civilians) mandate, for which the mission conducts social media analysis, among other things. The two major multilateral missions MINUSCA in the Central African Republic and UNMISS in South Sudan have the mandate to strengthen monitoring capacities, counter disinformation and report on campaigns against the missions. UNMISS in South Sudan set up a WhatsApp group with 500 opinion leaders to seek and then respond to their assessment of the mission's performance and to inform the population about UNMISS' tasks.

Combating disinformation is becoming increasingly important for peace operations. Aspects are already integrated into mandates, for example in:

  • MONUSCO (Democratic Republic of Congo)
  • EUPM Moldova (Republic of Moldova)
©Pixabay/Gerd Altmann

The OSCE also contributes to strengthening the resilience of societies against disinformation through its activities in the field of media (promotion of media pluralism and information literacy of (civil) society). To strengthen independent journalism in the Republic of North Macedonia, the OSCE Mission to Skopje, for example, supports the country's largest news agency. With its in April 2023 mandated EU Partnership Mission in the Republic of Moldova (EUPM Moldova), the EU has established the first mission to deal more comprehensively with disinformation. It aims to enhance the resilience of the Moldovan security sector in the area of crisis management and hybrid threats, which explicitly includes the fight against FIMI (Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference). Tasks in this area are the development of strategies, capacity building for early warning and support for the implementation of appropriate solutions.

As of 31.07.2023

 

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