Nuclear and radiation safety media literacy: be informed and stay calm

The information hygiene is a critically important aspect of the contemporary life, especially in the world where we face a huge flow of information every day. The untrue, manipulative or deliberately distorted information for a person without critical analysis skills can result in mood swings, panic attacks, apathy, as well as the risk of losing money due to fraudulent schemes.

The ability to analyze the information from different sources allows forming complete and true picture of the world. This helps to avoid a one-sided view of important issues. Knowledge about the safe use of digital resources and careful sharing of information help to prevent data theft or misuse.

Regular fact-checking, source analysis and manipulation detection practice promotes critical thinking which is essential for making the informed decisions in any field. The informed public is capable to withstand the propaganda and fake news, which strengthens the democratic processes and contributes to social development.

The concept of disinformation and its types

Disinformation is a false content spread with the intention to harm. This term also includes the manipulative content, decontextualization and fabrications.

Misinformation is a false information not intended to harm. As a rule, people who unwittingly spread gossip rarely intend to harm. Such public seizes the opportunity to be useful but cannot properly check the spread information.

Malinformation is a true personal information, which is disseminated to destroy the reputation of a person or organization. It can include the private shots, private correspondence or other compromising content.

Misinformation, disinformation, malinformation, fabrications, fake news can be characterized by term “information mess”. The propaganda narratives are subdivided into categories and provoke the uncertainty and reduce the trust in mass media.

The PSYOPS (psychological operations) is an English term where PSY stands for psychological and OPS stands for operations. The PSYOPS purpose is to transmit certain information and signals to the public to influence the emotions, behavior, concerns, as well as to form the attitude of the authorities, organizations, groups and individuals. PSYOPS are always created by the intelligence agencies.

In other words, thematically combined disinformation, propaganda, exaggeration of certain information or concealment of other information, sabotage at civil infrastructure facilities, cyberattacks, formation of public attitude in a certain way are PSYOPS components. Such operations are used both in peacetime and wartime. Unlike traditional war, when the army fights only enemy troops, the psychological war is waged against the millions of civilians unaware of becoming the victims.

The case with tagging is classic PSYOPS. At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the information on the light reflecting tags allegedly applied on the roads, roofs and walls of houses to target them from the airplanes in future were spread in social media. The task of the concerned individuals was to find the tag, take a picture and send it to the police, the Security Service of Ukraine or the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. The situation was deliberately aimed at pressing state bodies, causing panic in society. In fact, these markings were geodesic tags used to repair buildings or roads. It is impossible to detect such tag from the airplane.

Fake is completely or partially fabricated information on social events and people with all the signs of a true message which contains the deliberately misinterpreted facts, presented partially or completely with a distorted context. The fake purpose is to misinform the public, promote a desired vision of the events, spread panic, aggression, shake public confidence and beliefs, make the public doubt, convince to take a certain action, attract attention, intimidate the public, etc.

Deepfakes are artificially created audio, video and photo materials with the help of which it is possible to compromise and frame a person. Deepfakes are most often an PSYOPS element. It is very simple to create a fake video: an artificially generated speaker`s voice is recorded over the press conference piece but the text is usually not the original one.

The most famous example of a deepfake is a video message by Valerii Zaluzhnyi, previous Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in which he allegedly calls on the population of Ukraine to go to the squares of their cities and the military to disobey the “criminal orders” of the authorities. In fact, such video does not exist and Valerii Zaluzhnyi never called for a military coup. This video message was created by artificial intelligence using the deepfake technology and posted on russian Telegram channel “Radio Trukha”. After that, the video was spread in TikTok, X and other Telegram channels.

Nuclear and radiation safety disinformation

In Ukraine, as in many other countries, the radiation safety has become a target for fake and disinformation spreading. The mention of the word “radiation” often evokes fear.

Radiation is perceived as a unique hazard. This perception has many sources, including public information on real radiation damage, fear of nuclear weapons or dirty bombs, Chornobyl and even the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. video game.

In warning about the risks and consequences for the public, experts often use specific and technically sophisticated terms. Therefore, the public may be biased towards expert opinion and rely on not official information sources, in particular on the articles or publications posted on web platforms or social networks.

The most common NRS disinformation topics

Overstated radiation contamination risks. Fakes about allegedly permanent radiation leaks from operating nuclear power plants are widespread.

False information on accidents. Fake news about accidents at Ukrainian nuclear power plants are spread in the mass media or social networks from time to time, which can result in panic among the population. These fakes are spread to destabilize the situation in the country.

Statements on the impossibility of using the Westinghouse fuel at Ukrainian nuclear power plants. Some sources claim that Ukrainian nuclear power plants are designed for russian fuel only and fuel designed by other companies is not suitable and can be harmful.

Fakes on external attacks. In the context of russian federation aggression against Ukraine, the fakes on attacks on Ukrainian nuclear power plants and plans to capture or destroy the NPPs are spread in media space which increases the population fear.

Statements which contradict the official sources. Such headlines like “The authorities cover up the fact that the country is on the verge of a nuclear disaster” result in the distrust to the sources responsible for public awareness in case of a radiation accident. To avoid the disinformation, it is important to use official sources.

Competent authorities providing the information on NRS:

• SNRIU,
• State Enterprise “State Scientific and Technical Center for Nuclear and Radiation Safety”,
• Ministry of Energy of Ukraine,
• State Emergency Service of Ukraine,
• NNEGC Energoatom,
• Public Health Center of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine,
• Local authorities.

Basic rules of information hygiene

The information hygiene is not only about the safety but also about a conscious choice of what makes up your personal information space.

1. Regulate the data consumption time. Set the limits on news to avoid overload.
2. Check the information sources. Choose reliable and authentic sources.
3. Use fact-checking platforms before information spreading.

Send text, pictures, video or news links you want to check to the perevir_bot Telegram bot and get a substantiated evidence on the news from the fact-checking team. You can also use the “Fake Calculator”. For this, visit the www.fakecheck.in.ua website and click “Start”. Then choose the answer options for 5 questions about the main signs of fake information message. After getting the answers, the system will automatically process whether the news message is true or fake.

Reliable information distinguishing and fact-checking are important skills in the information overload era. The key fact-checking stages which will help to avoid disinformation:

1. Analysis of the information source:

• Who is the author? Is this an authoritative information source? Is the author a well-known newsman or scientist? Is the material signed by the real person?
• Where it was published? Trust official, verified sources or mass media from the “white” list. Suspicious blogs, sites without registration or with numerous errors should raise doubts.
• Source reputation. If a source has often been found to be fake or manipulative, it should not be trusted.

The Institute of Mass Information (IMI) forms a “white” list of all-Ukrainian media twice a year. In compliance with the results of the second half of 2024, the “white” list included 13 media: “Suspilne”, “Radio Svoboda”, “Ukrainska Pravda”, “Babel”, “Hromadske”, “Texty”, “ZN.ua”, “Espreso”, “Slovo i Dilo”, “Ukrainskyy Tyzhden”, “Hromadske Radio”, “NV” and “Graty”. Moreover, the Institute of Mass Information annually forms a list of regional media, which comply with the professional standards. The map of recommended Ukrainian media is formed based on the study.

2. Information content

• If the text seems too emotional, words “shock”, “sensation” are used – this points to manipulation.
• The reliable information is based on the facts, not the assumptions or personal opinions.
• Source indication. Reliable materials contain links to the documents, official statements or research work.

3. Data and event checking

• Up-to-date information. The outdated news or quotes taken out of the context can be presented as new. Always pay attention to the publication date.
• Event acknowledgement. Try to find the reference to the event in several independent sources. If the information is mentioned in one source only, it is suspicious.

4. Image and video checking

• Usage of the reverse image search tools. The services like Google Images, TinEye allow finding the original image. Find out if the image complies with the context in which it is submitted.
• Pay attention to the unnatural details or poor quality of the video which indicates a deepfake.

5. Analysis of links and quotes

• Are the quotes really belong to the mentioned persons? It is worth looking for the confirmation, for example, in verified interviews or official statements.
• If there are links to the unsavory reputation sites or broken links, this is a red signal.

6. Trust logic

• Data soundness. If something seems too fantastic or illogical, it may be a fiction.
• Emotional impact. Information which provokes strong emotions (fear, hate) is often manipulative.

StopFake platforms

More and more news monitoring and fake detection websites appear in Ukraine. Fact checkers provide the data and analyze the texts to demonstrate the origin and purpose of the disinformation.

The StopFake website works since march 2014. It was created to detect false information about Ukraine and other countries. Teachers, graduates and students of the Mohyla School of Journalism were the initiators. Journalists, editors, programmers and translators, who debunk the fakes on Crimea and war in Donbas, joined the project later.

Initially, the main goal of the community was to verify and refute the distorted information and propaganda on what is happening in Ukraine. Later, the project was transformed into the information hub where such a phenomenon as kremlin propaganda is analyzed. The StopFake fact-checking project launched the @StopFakeUkraine_bot Telegram bot for automatic verification of fakes. The bot allows checking the information in text, audio and video formats.

The Center for Countering Disinformation (CDC) is a state initiative aimed at fake identification and debunking. The CDC is a working body of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine. CDC experts analyze the common fakes, investigate manipulations and refute them, explain the disinformation terms, principles and mechanisms. The CDC website contains separate sections with brief refutations.

Behind the News is an independent information, media literacy, fact-checking and critical thinking development campaign which has been implemented by the Regional Press Development Institute since 1 August, 2018. The fact-checkers simply and clearly explain how the manipulations work, teach how to recognize the disinformation and debunk the fakes which Ukrainians see every day on social networks and media. The initiative aims at prevention of disinformation spreading and development of the active community for media users.

VoxCheck is a fact-checking project of the Vox Ukraine independent analytical platform. Fact-checkers expose lies, manipulations and russian propaganda not only in Ukraine, but also abroad. Currently, the project database includes about 1,600 debunked fakes. By the way, VoxCheck is a member of the Facebook fact-checking program, which envisages marking and debunking of false content distributed by the platform users.

The Teksty disinformation monitoring project is a project in the framework of which the journalists track the trends of russian disinformation about the war or its consequences for russia on russian and occupation websites, analyze the number of references to certain topics and draw conclusions which they share with their readers.

The project successfully shows the fake creation stages using an example of the news about Zaporizhzhia NPP cooling tower shelling by Ukrainian drone. The fake states that in the evening of 11 August, a black smoke cloud was detected above one of the facilities (cooling tower) of the Zaporizhzhia NPP occupied by the russians. Yevgeniy Balitsky, Head of the Zaporizhzhia NPP occupation authorities, was one of the first russian propagandists who reported on the incident and mentioned about the alleged shelling of the Zaporizhzhia NPP.

In an hour, the russian propaganda burst in the news about the drones launched by Ukraine but at that time russians knew that the drone was launched from Nikopol. The simultaneous propagandistic information flow can only indicate that the plan of the information attack was prepared prior to the incident.

The Teksty asked the Energodar residents on social networks what they saw and know about these events. “There is a strong smell of burning tires in Energodar. It is not possible to confuse this smell with anything else,” one of the residents writes. “The smell is associated with the smell of burning tires”, another resident writes. “It makes me sick already, the city really stinks”, one more resident of Energodar writes.

All this correlates with the information from Yevhen Yevtushenko, Head of the Nikopol District State Administration, that the occupants burnt up tires in large quantities inside the cooling tower.

Debunking fakes using the sandwich technique  

There is a misconception that debunking fakes will draw attention to the lies, you should simply ignore the fakes. However, in the contemporary world, the unrevealed manipulations gain more publicity and scope so, if you know that the news is false, you need to make an effort and tell the real story. You should debunk disinformation in a certain sequence, in particular, using the sandwich method. This is an effective fake debunking strategy. Its name comes from its sandwich-like structure.

First layer: truth. Start with a clear, understandable and reliable fact statement. This creates a basis for explanation.

For example: All official IAEA statements regarding the drone attack on the ZNPP do not contain specific accusations against russia or Ukraine, they are neutral.

Middle layer: fake debunking. Provide fake information, but only to debunk it or explain that it is fake.

For example: “Some sources spread the fake that, despite the ceasefire, the Ukrainian military launched a kamikaze drone which hit the IAEA experts’ vehicle on its way to the ZNPP. This was reported by IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi. It is not true”.

The last layer: truth again. At the end, emphasize the reliable data again to deepen the impression and fix the truth in the reader’s mind.

On Tuesday, 10 December 2024, the IAEA stated that the kamikaze drone hit and severely damaged an official vehicle. “As Director General of the IAEA, I condemn in the most firm terms this attack on IAEA staff… Fortunately, there were no victims, and our teams are safe. The rotation has been completed… I have said in the past that attacking a nuclear power plant is a no go. Attacking those who care for the nuclear safety and security of these plants is also absolutely unacceptable”, — this is all that the IAEA Director General said about this incident.

In conclusion, when reviewing the news, use a practical approach:

1. Found news? Slow down, do not share it immediately.
2. Check several sources.
3. Use image or video verification tools.
4. Ask yourself: “Why did this message appear now?”
5. If you found a true information, debunk the fake using the sandwich technique and publish it on social networks.

Following these steps, you can significantly reduce the risk of spreading false information and become a conscious news consumer.

Uatom.org Editorial Board