All news are constructed and nothing can be said to be true

The information war is becoming still more intense. We feel this especially so in our relationship with Russia, from which disinformation is flowing unhindered. Most recently the case of MH17, the Malaysian passenger plane shot down over Eastern Ukraine in July 2014, has illustrated the challenges involved. At the time of writing, the state-controlled Russian media have presented no fewer than nine alternative interpretations of the sad destiny of MH17. However, none of these mirrors the conclusions of the Dutch-led investigative committee.

The Russian media see all news as constructed. No one can claim to present “the truth” but only attempt to inform the public by offering various interpretations to a shared news arena. The news consumers are then free to choose freely from this arena. It is an extreme perspectivism.

A paradigm shift seems to have occurred in the instrumental use by the Russian authorities of the media as a force multiplier. This development should spur thorough thinking on a suitable reply. The liberal democracies should develop stronger cognitive firewalls to enable news consumers, both collectively and individually, to distinguish more clearly between news items of different quality. This is a Buildung project for the future.