quote:
Ok. Just wondering if you would expound on exactly how you know which statements are lies and which are the truth.

For instance, you show the video of the Cmdr of the BSL that was published today as proof he is still alive. But how do you know that video is recent? Media reports? The same media reports that said he was dead, and others say he was alive. And you use the ones saying he was alive as proof that the ones saying he was dead are lies?

Remember when the Moskva sank and Russia immediately published video of the crew all lined up to get medals? And the Mothers group was saying: "The Navy is telling us our sons were all rescued, and showed us this video. But none of them are answering their cell phones...."

I mean, it sounds like you are just choosing to believe the ones you want to believe. Just like most other posters on here.

Both sides (and those supporting them) have been guilty of false claims and incorrect statements and it isn't a situation that is going to change since it is part of any conflict. How pervasive disinformation has been in this conflict though is something that needs to be considered seriously by both society and the relevant institutions, the division it is creating is a necessary ingredient to undermine much of the progress made over much of the last century.

Traditional news media are stuck between a rock and a hard place. They are fighting to stay relevant in the age of social and digital media but have a legacy of fact checking to live up to. When they don't do this adequately they quickly get howled down (though in honesty they did create the trial by public opinion over the last several decades).

On the social media side fluidity of the war in terms of information access (despite being a slow grind for significant portions) is unprecedented and everyone races to get their story out first regardless of their motivations. Better OSINT communities for both sides make this somewhat easier by providing quick and adequate fact checking on some sectors of the conflict, usually strike locations, however these are not the easiest to find though unless you know where, or have the desire, to search for them. This puts much of the onus for fact checking on consumers rather than the institutions or reporters.

Problematically many consumers tune out the broader picture and patterns that emerge though to focus on the latest sound bite story. This can be due to information overload, time constraints, confirmation bias, or just not wanting to bother because they don't think it is relevant enough.