“The Russian government seeks to spread lies, confusion, and doubt about what is happening and to undermine the morale and unity of the democratic world. The Russian government has also engaged in a massive disinformation campaign to justify to the world and to its own people its war of aggression and to hide the crimes that are being committed in its course. Although the online platforms have undertaken significant efforts to address the Russian government’s unprecedented assault on truth, they have not done enough. Now is time for decisive action,” said Kaja Kallas, Krišjānis Kariņš, Ingrida Šimonytė, and Mateusz Morawiecki.
The prime ministers emphasise the need to suspend accounts engaged in the justification, denial, or glorification of war and war crimes, as well as the accounts of Russian and Belarusian government institutions, the country’s leadership and their close associates, and state-controlled media. The web giants are being urged to ban Russian and Belarusian state-controlled media from operating on their platforms so that propaganda channels cannot use them to circumvent international restrictions.
The leaders who signed the letter call on the largest online platforms to engage with local fact-checking initiatives, especially in Russian and Ukrainian languages, to detect disinformation and illegal content. The heads of government also called on the web giants to adjust their search settings and recommendation algorithms to help users find trustworthy information on the war in Ukraine and to inform users who are exposed to disinformation. One of the proposals of the prime ministers also concerns the need to resist the pressure from the Russian government to censor or restrict access to the content of online platforms.
“We stand ready to provide any assistance and further information in support of the implementation of these and other measures that are vital to protecting not only Ukraine, but also the democracies we cherish and nourish in the free world,” the Baltic and Polish prime ministers confirmed in the letter.
Full text of the letter: https://valitsus.ee/media/4565/download
