Ukraine in Transit: From Digital Resistance to Digital Renaissance

Ukraine in Transit: From Digital Resistance to Digital Renaissance

Vitaliy Moroz, Internews Ukrainevitaliy.moroz@gmail.com

Tuesday, May 13, 14

Introduction. How do we see the Internet?

Tuesday, May 13, 14

Internet Optimists vs Internet Pessimists

Dan Gillmor We the media, 2005

Evgeny Morozov, The Net Delusion, 2011

Tuesday, May 13, 14

Ukraine: Internet as an island of freedom

• How the Yanukovych government did perceive the Internet?

• How the Internet has been developing in Ukraine. Diverse market. Cheap access, Traditions of civic oversight of the government’s activities;

• Skilled professionals. Ukraine is a world’s player in IT market - $3.3 billion;

• 20 million users (almost 50% of population), majority users live in urban area (100,000+);

• January 16 legislation against civil society and Internet freedom.

Tuesday, May 13, 14

The role of social networks during Euromaidan

• Twitter - effective during elections and protests for journalists and international community. #26 most popular site in Ukraine as of May 2014 (Alexa.com)

• Vkontakte - #1 social network in Ukraine (at least 10 million users). Mostly entertainment, but...

• Facebook - a public sphere of Ukrainian civil society. #7 most popular site in Ukraine as of May 2014 (Alexa.com). 60,4% of Facebook users in Ukraine aged 18-34 years old.

• The role of social media: informing, mobilization, coordination, agenda setting

Tuesday, May 13, 14

Map of rallies to support UA - new technologies implied since the first days of the protests

Tuesday, May 13, 14

Online streaming + hashtags - new technologies implied since the first days of the protests

Tuesday, May 13, 14

Mapping the location of protests - new technologies implied since the first days of protests

Tuesday, May 13, 14

Mapping protesters’ needs - new technologies implied since the first days of the protests

Tuesday, May 13, 14

The use of Twitter during the protests:

Tuesday, May 13, 14

FB: Євромайдан SOS - providing assistance to those victimized during the protests - 98,000 fans

Tuesday, May 13, 14

Євромайдан SOS - peaking during the most dramatic events of Euromaidan

Tuesday, May 13, 14

Євромайдан SOS - up to 700,000 users interactions/engagements

Tuesday, May 13, 14

Thank you!

Tuesday, May 13, 14

Challenges for Ukrainian media and non-profits, opportunities and suggestions

Tuesday, May 13, 14

Threats: internal vs external

Tuesday, May 13, 14

Digital challenges for non-profits in Ukraine

• Lack of knowledge about the Internet, digital instruments and cyber security;

• Not enough funds to sustain IT-specialists in staff;

• A tradition of ignorance of digital threats;

• Not enough funds to work with soft under licenses

Tuesday, May 13, 14

Digital challenges for media organizations

• Lack of knowledge about cyber security;

• A tradition of ignorance of digital threats;

• Vulnerability to cyber attacks;

• Journalists resist multi tasking (acquiring skills beyond reporting)

• Online: Trolling and anonymity

• Huge informational flow, more mistakes

Tuesday, May 13, 14

Manipulation through social media - creating fake profiles

Tuesday, May 13, 14

Manipulation through social media - creating misleading profiles

Tuesday, May 13, 14

Bots and trolls attacking newspapers and accounts of politicians

Tuesday, May 13, 14

What can be done for UA civil society and media organizations to meet new challenges?

• Providing IT-consultancy services for non-profits and media organizations (assistance in launching a site, ongoing support);

• Targeted consultancy for regional media organizations (media audit, redesign of site, strategy for online, advices in cyber security);

• Providing free hosting for non-profits;

• Seed funding: supporting innovative initiatives with micro-grants;

• Supporting research in digital transformations and lessons learned of the Internet use;

• Supporting translations in Ukrainian/Russian in cyber security issues;

Tuesday, May 13, 14

What can be done for UA civil society and media organizations to meet new challenges?

• Supporting government accountability projects (ongoing monitoring of corruption, budget expenditures);

• Education in journalism standards and online journalism targeting young generations;

• Expanding the space for innovations - by holding barcamps, hackathons;

• Bringing expertise of best Western technology practices to Ukraine (guest speakers, lectors, CEO);

• Exchange visits, scholarships for Ukrainian media activists (conferences - TheNextWeb, Picnic Amsterdam, LeWeb Paris).

Tuesday, May 13, 14

Vitaliy Moroz, Internews Ukraine vitaliy.moroz@gmail.com @vitaliymoroz

Thank you!

Tuesday, May 13, 14