Ukraine Announces an Updated Information Safety Doctrine

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed an updated doctrine on information safety on Saturday, defining the government’s main goal as responding to the “destructive informational influence of Russia.”

The doctrine calls for better monitoring of information banned in Ukraine and the creation of an informational strategy for the “liberation and reintegration of temporarily occupied territories.” The document targets mostly print and television news media, although it also called for the Ministry of Culture to develop films and television content that show the “Ukrainian people’s heroic resistance to Russian aggression.”

Few in Ukraine doubt that Kiev needs to find a way of tackling Russian propaganda which has fuelled the conflict in the East, however many journalists and human rights activists worry that stepping up its own propaganda efforts, the Ukraine government risks curtailing press freedoms at home.