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| The New York Times, Feb, 26, 2017. 405 See, e.g., ‘‘2017 Democracy Dinner Explores the Global Threat of Disinformation National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, Nov. 2, 2017. Tara Susman-Pena & Katya Vogt, Ukrainians Self-defense against Disinformation What We Learned from Learn to Discern IREX, June 12, 2017. 407 Ibid. 408 ‘‘Ukraine’s Poroshenko to Block Russian Social Networks BBC News, May 16, 2017; Human Rights Watch, Ukraine Revoke Ban on Dozens of Russian Web Companies May 16, 2017. Transparency International, Corruption Perceptions Index 2016, Jan. 25, 2017. partment of Energy, Department of Homeland Security, FBI, and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation deployed to assist Ukrainian authorities in assessing the attack. 402 In 2017, USAID started a project in Ukraine to help the country build its cyber defenses, but given the scale and consistency of the Kremlin- directed barrage of cyberattacks, these assistance efforts pale in comparison to the threat. 403 As the Kremlin has made Ukraine the front line in its battle against Western institutions, Ukrainian civil society organizations have developed cutting-edge innovations to counter Russian disinformation. In March 2014, the Kyiv Mohyla School of Journalism helped establish StopFake.org—a fact-checking website that works to refute Russian disinformation and promote media literacy, which has expanded to produce a weekly TV show and podcasts. StopFake’s show has debunked Russian propaganda that said the Islamic State terrorist group had opened a training camp in Ukraine and that Ukrainian nationalists had crucified Russian- speaking children. 404 StopFake has become one of the most internationally recognized organizations for successfully countering Russian disinformation. 405 Another program conducted by a U.S.-based organization helped train more than 15,000 Ukrainians on how to critically read and share information. 406 Over the course of the program, the number of trainees who crosschecked the news they consumed rose by 22 percent. 407 The Ukrainian government has also sought to push back against disinformation, though with uneven results. In May 2017, President Poroshenko ordered Ukrainian service providers to block access to Russian websites including the social networking site VK formerly VKontakte), Odnoklassniki, search engine Yandex, and the email service Mail.ru, prompting freedom of speech concerns from groups like Human Rights Watch. 408 Ukraine’s most significant vulnerability to the Kremlin’s influence operations is corruption (Ukraine ranks 131 out of 167 countries on Transparency International’s 2016 Corruption Perceptions Index). 409 Since Ukraine’s independence, the Russian government has used corruption as a tool to weaken the development of the country’s fragile democratic institutions. While many political figures in Ukraine have been mired in corruption scandals, the scale that apparently took place during the Yanukovych regime was striking—in order to maintain power, Ukrainian watchdogs asserted that he paid $2 billion in bribes, which amounted to $1.4 million for everyday that he was in office. Election commissioners VerDate Mar 15 2010 04:06 Jan 09, 2018 Jkt PO 00000 Frm 00075 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6601 S:\FULL COMMITTEE\HEARING FILES\COMMITTEE PRINT 2018\HENRY\JAN. 9 REPORT FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER 70 Maxim Tucker, ‘‘Ukraine’s Fallen Leader Victor Yanukovych Paid Bribes of $2 billion or $1.4 Million for Every Day He was President The Guardian, May 31, 2016. Josh Cohen, Something is Very Wrong in Kyiv,’’ The Atlantic Council Blog, May 18, 2017. 412 Hrant Kostanyan, ‘‘Ukraine’s Unimplemented Anti-Corruption Reform Center for European Policy Studies, Feb, 2017. Matthias Williams & Natalia Zinets, Ukraine Tries to Fend Off Critics as West Cranks Up Pressure on Corruption Reuters, Dec. 6, 2017. Andrew E. Kramer, To Battle Fake News, Ukrainian Show Features Nothing But Lies Download 0.63 Mb. Share with your friends:
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