Join the Wilson Center's Kennan Institute for an online talk with Mykhailo Minakov, Victor Andrusiv and Angelina Kariakina on recent events in the Ukrainian mediasphere and their impacts on freedom of speech and the spread of disinformation.

Ukraine has long been the laboratory for Russian disinformation campaigns. As a result, the Poroshenko and Zelensky administrations have named combatting Russian disinformation a top priority. Recently, President Zelensky signed a decree sanctioning three television stations affiliated with Viktor Medvedchuk, a Ukrainian oligarch with ties to the Kremlin. However, Ukrainian citizens are divided on this decision, with some believing it to be a necessary step and others finding it a restriction on citizens’ rights. In this panel, speakers will discuss whether bans like this are effective in fighting state-sponsored disinformation and what this decision implies for freedom of speech in Ukraine going forward.

RSVP is requested; information can be found at this link.

Speakers:

Mykhailo Minakov, senior advisor; editor-in-chief, Focus Ukraine Blog

Victor Andrusiv, executive director, Ukrainian Institute for the Future

Angelina Kariakina, media manager and editor, Ukrainian Public Broadcast; journalist