Humour as a tool against disinformation: lessons from Ukraine

The full-scale nature of the war on Ukraine was made obvious by Russia’s willingness to use information as a weapon and to dedicate as many resources to fighting in the information space as on the battlefield. [...] As Maksym Kyiak from Foreign Policy Council (FPC) ‘Ukrainian Prism’ wrote: “During the first phases of the war, civil and military volunteers, and the Ukrainian diaspora took the place of the official Ukrainian authorities’ in countering Russia’s attack both on the battlefield and in the information space, where a horizontally organized Ukrainian civil society ‘had to combat Russia’s vertically co. [...] In the very first days of the Russian invasion, several acts of resistance became powerful symbols of the Ukrainians’ outstanding bravery and courage in the face of a reportedly bigger, better-equipped enemy. [...] Humour exposes the absurdity of Russian disinformation and imperialist narratives In Ukraine’s strategy to counter Russian propaganda and disinformation, humour has been often used to ridicule and expose the absurdity of Russian narratives. [...] In the case of Ukraine, it helped to spark audience’s interest in the context and a desire to learn more about the country, its history and culture.