MOGILEV, 28 May (BelTA) - The information war is a prelude to a hot phase of confrontation, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at the Belarus Media Forum in Mogilev on 28 May, BelTA has learned.
"The day before, while I was preparing for a meeting with you, I tried to remember when the concepts of ‘information war’, ‘mental war’, ‘fake news’, ‘post-truth’, and others came into our lives. Actually quite recently. Literally some 6 to 7 years ago. How old are the phenomena that they name? We will not be able to count. Probably they are as old as the humanity. Because an information war is a prelude to a hot phase of confrontation," Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
According to him, the information war implies disinformation, attempts to mislead the enemy, to create a fog of useless information, to confuse, to make you doubt your values, beliefs, and strengths. "The plot is as old as the world," the president stated.
"What is fake, post-truth, deepfake which are much talked about today? This is a common lie. Distortion of facts. Forgery. We all need to call a spade a spade. We need to talk about complex things in a simple and clear way. After 2020, we talked a lot about responsible journalism. We agreed to tell the truth even if it sounds boring. We were aware that it would be difficult to compete with destructive sources," Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
This work should be based on the truth. As an example, the president cited the situation with the migrant crisis at the border. "The bitterest truth is better than the sweetest lie. It needs to be exposed and shown. Therefore, the truth and only the truth. This is the most important thing," the head of state stressed.
"But look what is happening. The self-exiled opposition openly say that they have no levers of pressure on the country, except for sanctions. Indeed, life has taught Belarusians to think critically and verify information before drawing conclusions, or to disregard it if it is impossible to verify. This is a small victory. Your victory. Victory for those who had to sift through the dirt poured on us then. Our journalists worked well in conjunction with law enforcement agencies. The programs you created went down in history as a manual for protecting the country's information sovereignty," Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
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