site.btaDisinformation Narratives Desensitize Public to Difficulties Faced by Ukrainian Women, Experts Say

Disinformation narratives are diminishing public sensitivity to the difficulties faced by Ukrainian women who have fled the war, experts agreed during a roundtable discussion titled Invisible Chains: Disinformation, Administrative Corruption, and Violence Against Women, held in Sofia on Friday.

Dimitar Markov, Director of the Law Program at the Center for the Study of Democracy, opened the discussion by emphasizing the current era of political instability both in Bulgaria and worldwide. According to him, the issue of violence against women arises in Bulgaria every month, but this does not yield results. Ukrainian women frequently fall victim to stereotypes and disinformation circulating on social media, Markov added.

Anna Tertychna, Deputy Head of Mission and Political Adviser at the Ukrainian Embassy in Bulgaria, highlighted the increasing importance of the disinformation topic in the past 11 years. In her words, since the beginning of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, fighting disinformation has become part of the national security agenda for every country and the EU and NATO.

Tertychna said that despite extensive discussions, solutions to the "invisible chains" spreading disinformation are still lacking, and noted that the lack of information about human rights violations against women is also a form of disinformation.

Tertychna presented data from the Ukrainian Embassy, reporting that over 200,000 people have found shelter in Bulgaria since the start of the war in Ukraine, with more than 3 million Ukrainians passing through the country. Currently, there are 61,000 Ukrainian citizens in Bulgaria, of whom only 5,000 are benefiting from free housing, while over 30,000 are employed and pay taxes.

During the discussion, Kristina Tsabala from the Center for the Study of Democracy presented an analysis on the media coverage of Ukrainian women. The analysis covered 24,000 online articles and 636 Facebook posts. The data revealed that, two years before the war, there were 374 articles about Ukrainian women. After the war began, this number increased 92-fold to 34,313 articles.

The main disinformation narratives about Ukrainian women in Bulgarian online news outlets reflect those widespread on Facebook, Tsabala explained. The main gender-based disinformation narratives portray Ukrainian women in Bulgaria as gold diggers and superficial. Also, Ukrainian women are often depicted in Bulgarian media and social networks as being mainly preoccupied with their appearance.

The targeted disinformation campaign against refugees, based on their identity, spreads effectively to the places where they seek protection and security but are met with hostility, risks, and difficulties. Experts believe that the State Agency for Refugees, in coordination with other government institutions involved in combating foreign disinformation and building a more resilient society, should recognize and offer solutions to this problem in its strategies and working procedures.