The description of the famous Russian political
scientist Yakovlev is also interesting. Reading
Russian scientific articles for five years,
Yakovlev noted with interest that the people who
coordinate the introduction and interpretation of
Russian news studied the same textbook
(Zozulia, 2020; Kriesi, 2013). The human psyche
is arranged as follows: as soon as the accusation
becomes the subject of public discussion, its
“supporters” and “opponents”, “experts” and
“sofa experts” inevitably appear. A “big lie” can
cause deep emotional trauma for the listener or
viewer, which will determine their point of view
over a long period of time, which contradicts any
arguments of logic and reason.
The “40 by 60” method was invented by
Goebbels. It is to create media that cover 60% of
their information in the enemy’s interests.
Having thus earned his trust, the remaining 40%
they use for extremely effective, thanks to this
trust, misinformation (Lilleker, 2006; Snyder,
2010). Instead of proving something, the
information is presented as something obvious,
self-evident, and therefore unquestionably
supported by the majority of the population.
Despite its apparent simplicity, this method is
incredibly effective, because the human psyche
automatically responds to the opinion of the
majority, seeking to join it. However, it is
important to remember that the majority must be
overwhelming, and its support must be absolute
and unconditional. If these conditions are met,
the number of supporters of the “majority
position” begins to grow gradually, but steadily
and increases exponentially over time (mainly
due to members of the lower social strata, who
are most vulnerable to “joining influence”
effect).
One of the classic ways to support the “absolute
obviousness” approach is to publish the results of
various surveys that demonstrate absolute social
consensus on specific issues. “Black”
propaganda technology does not require that
these reports be in any way related to reality. A
lot can be said about all these methods, because
their list is huge. However, there are other
important things. The method of “black”
propaganda influences the audience through a
deep psychological mechanism, so that the
consequences of this influence cannot be
eliminated by ordinary logical arguments.
Usually, this is impossible for the joining effect
not to occur. However, if these conditions are
met, the number of supporters of the “majority
position” begins to grow gradually but steadily,
and increases exponentially over time (mainly
due to members of the lower social strata, who
are most prone to the “joining effect”) (Lilleker,
2006; Popescu, 2015).
However, the information war, in which Ukraine
is significantly weaker than Russia, is also
important. Therefore, the following objectives
are important: building the political culture of
Ukrainians, influencing the public consciousness
of the population by creating effective counter-
myths, demythologising consciousness,
including the population of Eastern and Southern
Ukraine, systemic rational explanations,
counterarguments, even humour, and, of course,
building a single state positive myth.
Demythologisation of mass consciousness is
possible on the basis of the evolutionary
development of national and civic worldview,
strengthening critical attitudes in society,
development of independent media, raising the
level of education of the population, changing the
philosophy of life of the average Ukrainian and
state elite.
All methods of special propaganda are united by
a single goal. It is to weaken the enemy’s army
by introducing internal enmity, mutual hatred
and distrust to each other. The result they lead to
is the one they were created to achieve. However,
mutual hatred and internal enmity do not arise in
the enemy’s army, but in the homes and families
of citizens. It seems that special propaganda
works against its own population even more
effectively than against enemy soldiers. Probably
because the civilian population, unlike the enemy
soldiers, cannot defend themselves.
Over the last ten years, there have been countless
discussions on the need to adopt the Information
Code of Ukraine and determine its importance
for lawful settlement of problematic aspects of
information security. This code should be based
on the concept of national information policy.
Conclusions
Modern democratic society is forced to find a
balance between certain extremes. In order to
protect their democratic values, centuries-old
traditions and achievements in the field of human
rights, European countries have to find ways to
restrict freedom of speech in order to protect the
foundations of a democratic political regime. In
fact, the effects of information aggression far
outweigh the capabilities of conventional
weapons, and it encourages temporary
restrictions on democracy in order to maintain
democratic values in the future.