scholarly journals Fight against Disinformation in Ukraine: Challenges and Prospects

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 294-301
Author(s):  
Alexander A. Vasiliev ◽  
Shuanat N. Kadyrova ◽  
Alexander A. Fomin

The material presents the analysis of the draft law of Ukraine On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding Ensuring National Information Security and the Right of Access to Reliable Information . This law can for the first time in the history of the country criminalize journalists for disseminating false information and set up new forms of control over information in the future. This is not the first attempt by the countrys leadership to bring all actors into a legal and civilized channel (the draft law On the Media No. 2693, which is also under consideration by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, stands for the systematic policy of reforming the media sector of Ukraine). The research is aimed at defining the place of the draft law in the reformed system of legal regulation of the Ukrainian media, from the position of the academic community neutral to the process. For this purpose, a detailed content analysis was conducted, which showed that, in the long run, the ambiguous wording of the adopted document at the stage of its enforcement, leaves the regulatory authorities free to interpret it depending on the interests of the parties, rather than on the language of the law. Considering the risks associated with the entry into force of this draft, one should also take into account the ambiguous reaction of the local and international media community. The article may be considered as a contribution to the development of criteria for a comprehensive scientific analysis of the legislation regulating the activity of media structures.

2013 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 3-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chongyi Feng

Stability preservation ([Formula: see text], weiwen) has been a core policy of the Chinese communist government for the last two decades. China is the only major country in the contemporary world to have set up stability preservation offices at all levels of government alongside the normal administrative institutions for social control. These offices are mainly staffed by the existing personnel of the security apparatus, who in turn exercise control over people and the propaganda apparatus, who exercise control over information. The consequences of the stability preservation policy and the “system of stability preservation” ([Formula: see text], weiwen tizhi) are widely reported in the media, but the academic community is still in the initial stages of understanding the process of this unique phenomenon in China (Sandby-Thomas 2011; Shambaugh 2000; Social Development Research Group 2010; Sun 2009; Yu 2009). Why has the Chinese government pursued this policy? Is stability preservation in China a conventional issue of “law and order”? Are the policy and institutions of stability preservation effective in providing social and political stability? What are the implications of these special arrangements for China and the Chinese communist regime in the long run?


Author(s):  
Jonathan Rose

The Literary Agenda is a series of short polemical monographs about the importance of literature and of reading in the wider world and about the state of literary education inside schools and universities. The category of 'the literary' has always been contentious. What is clear, however, is how increasingly it is dismissed or is unrecognised as a way of thinking or an arena for thought. It is sceptically challenged from within, for example, by the sometimes rival claims of cultural history, contextualized explanation, or media studies. It is shaken from without by even greater pressures: by economic exigency and the severe social attitudes that can follow from it; by technological change that may leave the traditional forms of serious human communication looking merely antiquated. For just these reasons this is the right time for renewal, to start reinvigorated work into the meaning and value of literary reading. For the Internet and digitial generation, the most basic human right is the freedom to read. The Web has indeed brought about a rapid and far-reaching revolution in reading, making a limitless global pool of literature and information available to anyone with a computer. At the same time, however, the threats of censorship, surveillance, and mass manipulation through the media have grown apace. Some of the most important political battles of the twenty-first century have been fought--and will be fought--over the right to read. Will it be adequately protected by constitutional guarantees and freedom of information laws? Or will it be restricted by very wealthy individuals and very powerful institutions? And given increasingly sophisticated methods of publicity and propaganda, how much of what we read can we believe? This book surveys the history of independent sceptical reading, from antiquity to the present. It tells the stories of heroic efforts at self-education by disadvantaged people in all parts of the world. It analyzes successful reading promotion campaigns throughout history (concluding with Oprah Winfrey) and explains why they succeeded. It also explores some disturbing current trends, such as the reported decay of attentive reading, the disappearance of investigative journalism, 'fake news', the growth of censorship, and the pervasive influence of advertisers and publicists on the media--even on scientific publishing. For anyone who uses libraries and Internet to find out what the hell is going on, this book is a guide, an inspiration, and a warning.


Author(s):  
Efim I. Pivovar ◽  

The article covers the activities of the Association called Business Centre for Economic Development of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The author examines in detail the twenty-year history of this organisation, its creation, goals and objectives, features of the structure, participants and partners, and the formation of competence areas. The article emphasises that over the years of its existence, the Association has become an important and effective platform for interaction among business structures, industry associations, banking and financial institutions, entrepreneurs, the expert and scientific community as well as the media of the Commonwealth countries. Considering the Association’s key areas and forms of activity the author highlights the annual International Economic Forums involving business leaders of the Commonwealth member states, which contribute to the strengthening and development of multilateral economic relations in the post-Soviet space. The article examines in great detail the work of each Forum, its participants (both individuals and legal entities), the topics of discussions and speeches of individual speakers from various Commonwealth countries, which, in the author’s opinion, are of crucial importance for the activities of the Association called Business Centre for Economic Development of the Commonwealth of Independent States and the entire Commonwealth, as well as for the development of Eurasian integration. In addition, the article focuses on the final documents of the Forums: the author studies their main provisions with the set up in them goals, tasks, proposals and priorities.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 449-472
Author(s):  
Emma Pett ◽  
Helen Warner

As a cultural institution of national and global significance, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) is notably absent from existing scholarship on the media industries. More importantly, BAFTA's role as an independent arts charity set up by the industry to support and develop new talent is often overlooked. Instead, references to BAFTA made by media and film scholars most frequently take the form of footnotes or digressions that detail particular awards or nominations. Drawing on a range of archival sources, including BAFTA's own records, we address this significant omission within existing scholarship on the British cultural and creative industries. In particular, we examine the period 1947–68, focusing on the 1958 merger of the British Film Academy with the Guild of Television Producers and Directors to form a new institution, known as the Society of Film and Television Arts (SFTA, later renamed BAFTA). This was achieved despite the well-documented tensions existing between the two industries throughout the period, which we identify and analyse within this historical context. We argue that a crucial factor driving the 1958 merger was the desire to develop quality training schemes across both industries. This, in turn, was partly enabled by an egalitarian turn in post-war British society towards the development of greater social equality and mobility. In reconstructing these events, we therefore interrogate and reassess the role played by this key national institution on the development of the creative and cultural industries, offering an expansion and revision of scholarship on media histories of post-war Britain.


Author(s):  
Andrea Botto Stuven

The Documentation Center of the Contemporary History of Chile (CIDOC), which belongs to the Universidad Finis Terrae (Santiago), has a digital archive that contains the posters and newspapers inserts of the anti-communist campaign against Salvador Allende’s presidential candidacy in 1964. These appeared in the main right-wing newspapers of Santiago, between January and September of 1964. Although the collection of posters in CIDOC is not complete, it is a resource of great value for those who want to research this historical juncture, considering that those elections were by far the most contested and conflicting in the history of Chile during the 20th Century, as it implicted the confrontation between two candidates defending two different conceptions about society, politics, and economics. On the one hand, Salvador Allende, the candidate of the Chilean left; on the other, Eduardo Frei, the candidate of the Christian Democracy, coupled with the traditional parties of the Right. While the technical elements of the programs of both candidates did not differ much from each other, the political campaign became the scenario for an authentic war between the “media” that stood up for one or the other candidate. Frei’s anticommunist campaign had the financial aid of the United States, and these funds were used to gather all possible resources to create a real “terror” in the population at the perspective of the Left coming to power. The Chilean Left labeled this strategy of using fear as the “Terror Campaign.”


Author(s):  
Svitlana Hretsa

The article highlights the legal aspects of using the tax lien as a means to ensure the constitutional obligation to pay taxes andfees. The focus is on the importance of proper implementation of constitutional obligations for the protection of human rights and theperformance of state functions. An important place for tax liability in the system of constitutional obligations has been identified. Themain ways of ensuring the fulfillment of the tax obligation have been revealed and the key role of such a way as tax lien has beenemphasized. The concept of tax lien is defined and the history of formation of this institution in the legislation of Ukraine is revealed.The grounds for the emergence of the right of tax lien, the peculiarities of its documentation (registration) is presented. The status andpowers of the tax manager about the description of the property in the tax lien, checks of its condition, etc. are determined. The articledescribes the legal consequences of non-compliance with the legal requirements of the tax manager, in particular the suspension in courtof expenditure transactions on bank accounts, and in some cases - the use of administrative seizure of property. The author disclosesthe legal regime of property that is in tax lien, the scope of taxpayers’ rights to use it, the content of legislative restrictions on the possibilityof disposing of such property, the procedure for coordinating transactions with mortgage assets. The legal grounds for terminationof the right of tax lien are indicated. The legal mechanism of realization of the right of the tax pledge, the order and sequence ofthe address of collecting on the pledged property is described. The author revealed the shortcomings of the legislation, in particular thelong nature of the recovery in court. Proposals have been made to improve the legal regulation of the tax lien to increase the effectivenessof this instrument to ensure proper implementation of the constitutional obligation to pay taxes. In particular, it is proposed to providethe possibility of extrajudicial recovery of property that is in tax lien when the taxpayer has given written consent.


2021 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 63-78
Author(s):  
Dabagyan Emil ◽  

The article analyzes the most important period in the historical development of Venezuela. Under the dictator Juan Vicente Gomez, who reigned uncontrollably for a long time, the “Generation of the 28th” emerged. It contributed notably to the democratic development of the country. The participants of named movement were mainly the representatives of student youth; they were the first to openly oppose the tyranny. "The Generation of the 28th" went through a complex evolutionary path eradicating their own mistakes. A representative democracy functioned in Venezuela for forty years. It modified the face of Venezuelan society: the adopted Constitution guaranteed to all citizens the right to elect and be elected. The regular shifts in all the government agencies, a freedom of assembly and the media were practiced. The democratic institutions worked securily while serious socio-economic reforms were carried out throughout the country.


The article states that total and radical changes are taking place in society in all spheres, and legislative provision of the sphere of providing educational services in the field of higher legal education is gradually emerging; noted that the conceptual vision of the problem as a whole has not yet emerged; it is stated that human rights are on the surface of all social transformations, and the right among others belongs to the right to information, therefore the aspect of implementation and protection of personal data on the Internet, scientific substantiation, legal regulation of these rights and consolidation of their respective status are relevant; it was also noted that in the conditions of post-industrial society the issues of informatization of the Ukrainian educational space are very topical; it is a question that their decision should be made not only by dynamic methods of development of information educational environment, but also by search of new means, forms and ways of interaction of socio-cultural institutions (media and education), as well as support and evaluation of the effectiveness of the educational process in the conditions of information society; noted that today these tasks are intended to be solved by media education; formation of media competence directly concerns future jurists, since they are responsible for the transfer of knowledge and experience in practice, that is, consulting activities in the context of universal informatization; the issue of media competence of the future jurist is also being updated because the society is experiencing a discrepancy in the experience of interaction with the media in the older generation and young people; it is noted that, because of media creation, a teacher in higher education institution will be able to expand the students' view of future jurisprudence, about the media, to reveal the intellectual potential of modern information technologies and "media culture as a means for further continuous self-education"; it was stated that for a long time the portfolio was used only as an authentic evaluation of the results of the students' educational and professional achievements, but its possibilities are obviously much wider; "Web Portfolio" is a web-based resource that reflects the growth of the owner's educational or professional achievements; the value of such a web-portfolio is also evident in the issue of potential employment and in the self-presentation of oneself as a competent specialist, ready to live and work in the conditions of the information society; it was noted that the web portfolio should be put into operation of the institutions of higher education; indicated that there are also so-called "false portfolios", representing a specialist with no work experience, but with the available skills; stated that the issue of creating a web-portfolio is relevant for the higher education of future jurists; also noted that there is a danger of being "hostage" to the network and, in general, it is difficult to resist, counter, prevent and combat threatening challenges on the network.


Author(s):  
T. M. Obajuluwa ◽  
F. O. Talabi ◽  
O. Oluwasola

The study examined the knowledge of the use of new media tools and applications for the enhancement of information gathering and dissemination in the newsroom and the challenges faced in the integration of these tools in journalism practice, giving credence to peculiarities of the Nigerian situation. The study seeks to achieve the following objectives: to find out the challenges of news and information gathering in a digital age, to determine the knowledge level and operational skill of journalists use of the veritable tools such as apps and ICT facilities employed in the new media realm and also to enumerate ICTs challenges faced in order to engender support and vibrant journalism practice in Nigeria. The survey research method was adopted while the questionnaire was used as an instrument of data collection. Respondents showed a slightly above average knowledge level of podcasting and Google image uses (64%). However, there was little knowledge demonstrated in the uses of the wiki, dejero/bambuser etc (38% and 29% respectively). Also, challenges plaguing journalism practice in Nigeria include inadequate staff training, epileptic telecommunication network and internet server problem as a major problem (among others). This study, therefore, among others; recommends that the government provides the needed social infrastructures, which the media need to operate. In this sense, the government should improve on the power supply situation so that ICT facilities can function under the right environment and adequate training for right knowledge and use of technological applications used for attaining the standards of international media best practices.


2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 245-259
Author(s):  
Kamila Kamińska-Chełminiak ◽  

The aim of the study is to present selected aspects of the history of censorship in Poland during the Stalinist period (1948−1956). The article presents the circumstances of the establishment of the censorship office in Poland — the Central Office for the Control of Press, Publications and Events (GUKPPiW) — which was set up in January 1945 and operated throughout the period of the Polish People’s Republic, until April 1990. The article also gives an answer to the question about the role of the so-called Soviet advisers who came to Lublin in December 1944 and took full control of the process of creating state censorship. The employees of the Soviet censorship sent from Moscow were tasked with creating an institution that would control the media and operate according to the mechanisms established in the USSR. In the process of organizing the censorship apparatus, the Polish communists played a marginal and servant role towards the Soviet military (including General N. Bulganin) and advisers who came from Moscow. The most important decisions were made by the employees of Glavlit, whose recommendations were treated by the management of the Polish Workers’ Party as orders. Glavlit officers, who arrived in Lublin in December 1944, recruited censorship employees, developed instructions for them, rules for publishing and issuing printed works and drafted a decree on the control of the press, publications and performances, a draft order of the minister of public security regarding the introduction of censorship. The work also describes the process of recruiting censors, as well as the reasons and scope of censorship interventions.


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