On June 28, 2019, Free Russia Foundation hosted a conference Finding Practical and Principal Approaches to Countering the Kremlin’s Influence Campaigns While Upholding Sanctity of Free Speech at the Hague, Netherlands.

See the full agenda
Download the speakers’ bios

At the conference, FRF unveiled a new report by the Congressional Research Service Limits on Freedom of Expression, which examines the scope of protection extended to freedom of speech in thirteen selected countries: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. This report focuses on the limits of protection that may apply to the right to interrupt or affect in any other way public speech. It also addresses the availability of mechanisms to control foreign broadcasters working on behalf of foreign governments.

Panelist for this conference included moderators Leon Willems, Michael Weiss, Kristina Vaiciunaite, and Daniel Mitov, as well as, many other human rights activists, legal experts, authors, journalists, media experts, etc. who weighed in on the concept of protected free speech and worked together to articulate measures for countering disinformation.

The event was punctuated by the keynote remarks delivered by David Kaye, UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Speech, and Richard Hoogland, D66 Board member International Cooperation.

Panel One

Panel one featured presentations by Leon Willems, Roman Dobrokhotov, Vasily Gatov, Luke Harding, Thomas O. Melia, Peter Pomerantsev, and Olga Romanova who discussed practicalities of finding a balance between protecting free speech and combating disinformation campaigns by Russia. Speakers highlighted the limits of fact-checking. According to the new evidence from neuroscience research, audience rejects the corrected information once the disinformation has previously been delivered. Instead speakers suggested contracting propaganda with personalized positive stories that affect emotions rather than the rational mind. It is also critical to follow strict guidelines of providing accurate information and avoid acting like Russian sources. Finally, there was a consensus on the panel that media too shares a responsibility as an agent of democracy for what types of narratives it highlights regularly (negative over positive).

Panel Two

Speakers of the second panel included victims of the Kremlin’s disinformation campaign: Vladimir Kara-Murza, Marina Litvinenko, Alena Balaba, Tatiana Gerasimova, Martin Kragh, Ilona Sokolova, and Liz Wahl. The discussion examined real cases of individuals targeted by Russian-state sponsored disinformation campaigns and the effects it had on them personally and the defense strategies they used against it. The speakers discussed the role the Kremlin played in labeling those who disagree with its policies as traitors and how that has dehumanized them and put a target on their back. Martin Kragh shared stories of victims of disinformation who had to deal with loss of jobs, threats against their lives and the lives of their families.

Panel Three

Jens-Henrik Jeppesen, Oleg Kozlovsky, Jeremy Lamoreaux, Joanna Szymanska, Nathalie Vogel, and Ilya Zaslavskiy spoke on the tactics and mechanisms of disinformation, and examined ways to protect social media platforms and the impact of inauthentic digital content. The discussion included evaluation of the current EU Commission’ approach to disinformation such as defining the disinformation narrowly as verifiably false information designed to mislead the public for political or commercial reasons and its inclusion in the code of conduct. Although the collaboration efforts among the EU member states against propaganda have been remarkable, panelist agreed on the critical need to expand coordination beyond the countries in the EU. Oleg Kozlovsky highlighted the importance of raising public awareness of the disinformation campaigns, particularly among the children and following the example of Finland, which recently introduced strategies for reading newspapers in the curriculum.

Panel Four

The fourth panel speakers Ralf Fuecks, Jelger Groeneveld, Padraig Hughes, David Kaye, Miriam Lexmann, Scott Martin, and Marko Mihkelson discussed legal and policy mechanisms for combating state disinformation. While for the nations within the European Union the mandate to uphold freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, dominates the discussion: there are certain limits and legal precedents where speech is either infringed upon or not well defined. The speakers in this panel, all legal and human rights experts, addressed the clash of enumerated individual speech rights against the boundaries of collective rights of a state actor; and discussed cases where states and other governing bodies such as the U.N. and the E.U. had established limits on hate speech, defamation and libel, and articulated anti-obscenity laws; because of these established limits and precedents it can be used to limit the harm rendered by state-sponsored propaganda. Finally, the panelists articulated legal recourse options available to those targeted by disinformation campaigns. Padraig Hughes, for example, weighed in on the litigation around defamation without harming free speech tenets, which is more nuanced than legislating. David Kaye raised the issue of legislating transparency such as the rules and nature of enforcement. Miriam Lexmann brought attention to the underlying problem and incentive of disinformation which is that disinformation is a business model: It does not serve local interests but rather seeks to reap profit. Similarly Scott Martin discussed that disinformation bases itself off of an economic model but he calls for regulation to deal with these issues, specifically international regulation.

The conference was followed by a closed working lunch moderated by Melissa Hooper, to gather and solidify concrete policy recommendations. The discussion focused on finding recommendations on how to combat Russian propaganda and disinformation efforts. The attendees articulated strategies for countering state-sponsored propaganda all while having to maintain a balance between upholding free speech and limiting the damage of disinformation campaigns. They then evaluated whether the existing law can be used to establish limits on damaging speech and the need for new remedies to curtail the purveyors of propaganda.

Vladimir Kara-Murza, Vice President of the Free Russia Foundation, stated during his presentation at a meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council that in the past four years, the number of political prisoners in Russia has increased by six times.

Kara-Murza noted that the Russian academic Andrei Sakharov named 126 prisoners of conscience when he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in December of 1976. Memorial Human Rights Center has calculated that there are 297 people currently under pursuit for political or religious reasons. “This is the most conservative estimate, but it helps bring to light the extent of the government’s pursuit [of people],” said the politician.

He named as examples Ukrainian director Oleg Sentsov, who opposed the annexation of Crimea, activist and single mother from Rostov-on-Don Anastasia Shevchenko, who was arrested under the new law on “undesirable organizations,” and also Alexei Pichugin, who spent sixteen years behind bars in connection with the “YUKOS case.”

“These are three names out of 297. And this number continues to grow. In the last four years, the number of political prisoners in Russia has risen by six times. The government’s pursuit of them violates not only the Constitution of the Russian Federation, but also the Russia’s commitments set in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and also the summary document of the Venice meeting of the OSCE, and the European Convention on Human Rights,” noted Vladimir Kara-Murza as he urged the United Nations Human Rights Council to achieve fairness for those who have lost it in their homeland.

This Article first appeared in Russian at the Znak.com. 

Washington

July 2, 2019

In response to the designation of the Free Russia Foundation as an “undesirable organization” by the Russian Ministry of Justice on June 28, Freedom House issued the following statement:

“Support for freedom, democracy, and equality of all under the law continues to be under siege in Russia,” said Michael Abramowitz, president of Freedom House. “This designation, in combination with Russia’s ‘foreign agents’ legislation, continues a pattern in which the Russian state is attacking the very institutions it needs in order to be a modern, democratic society. Using the ‘undesirable’ label to undermine the credible and vital work of civic organizations around the world that support the voices of Russian defenders of freedom reveals the Russian government’s disregard for the broader interests of its people.”

Background:

On June 28, the Free Russia Foundation became the 16th group added to the Russian Ministry of Justice’s list of undesirable organizations. The 2015 law on “undesirable organizations” restricts the ability of certain foreign organizations to operate in the country. The Prosecutor General’s Office provided the following explanation for its decision: “Its activity threatens the foundations of the constitutional system and security of the Russian Federation.” The decision was made following the release of a report by the Free Russia Foundation that drew attention to the Kremlin’s attempts to undermine and corrupt western systems.

Russia is rated Not Free in Freedom in the World 2019 and Not Free in Freedom on the Net 2019.

Freedom House is an independent watchdog organization that supports democratic change, monitors the status of freedom around the world, and advocates for democracy and human rights.

This article was originally published on Freedom House.org

The Free Russia Foundation is a non-profit pro-democracy organization striving for a free Russia. We seek and support positive changes in our home country. We are ‘desirable’ among those who value democracy and human rights and, for that, we know we are in good company with 15 other honorable organizations. Our focus is on the best interests of the Russian people. We are not distracted by designations from those who want Russia to remain an authoritarian country.

 

Russia will be free. And we will be even more proud of it.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Natalia Arno, President
Phone: +1 202.549.2417
Email: natalia.arno@4freerussia.org

VLADIMIR KARA-MURZA TO JOIN FREE RUSSIA FOUNDATION (FRF) LEADERSHIP AS VICE PRESIDENT

WASHINGTON D.C., June 20, 2019. The Free Russia Foundation, a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization working to defend civil liberties and human rights in Russia and restore the country’s path to democracy, has announced a new high-profile addition to its leadership team.

On July 1, 2019, Vladimir V. Kara-Murza, a prominent Russian democracy activist, author and filmmaker will join FRF as Vice President to lead the organization’s public diplomacy, global outreach and advocacy efforts.

“I am honored to join this team of committed defenders of democracy and the rule of law in Russia, whose passion is rivaled only by their effectiveness,” Kara-Murza said of FRF. “The Kremlin, for now, has monopolized all aspects of Russian public life at home, but we will not let it usurp the exclusive right to speak on behalf of Russia in the world. There are many Russians who have a very different, democratic vision for our country – and we must make sure that their voices are heard.”

“The Free Russia Foundation welcomes Vladimir Kara-Murza to our great team! We are honored to be colleagues with this outstanding hero and freedom fighter. Together, we will achieve even more in our efforts to push for positive changes in Russia and deter the Kremlin’s malign activities in the world,” FRF President Natalia Arno said of Vladimir Kara-Murza joining the organization.

David J. Kramer, Chairman of the FRF Board, said, “Having Vladimir Kara-Murza join the FRF team makes an amazing organization even stronger and more effective. He is a perfect fit with the vitally important work that Natalia and her dedicated team perform. The Board and I remain deeply impressed by and committed to the work of FRF and believe that the future of the organization will be even brighter with Vladimir in this new capacity.”

Kara-Murza was a longtime colleague of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov and chairs the Boris Nemtsov Foundation for Freedom. He is a former deputy leader of the People’s Freedom Party and was a candidate for the Russian State Duma. He has testified before Parliaments in Europe and North America and played a key role in the passage of the Magnitsky legislation that imposed targeted sanctions on Russian human rights violators in the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, and several EU countries. U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) called Kara-Murza “one of the most passionate and effective advocates for passage of the Magnitsky Act”; U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) commended him as “a courageous advocate for the democratic process and fundamental universal human rights.”

He is a contributing writer to the Washington Post and has previously worked for the BBC, RTVi, Echo of Moscow, Kommersant, and other media outlets. He directed two documentary films, They Chose Freedom and Nemtsov, and is the author of Reform or Revolution: The Quest for Responsible Government in the First Russian State Duma and a contributor to Russia’s Choices: The Duma Elections and After, Russian Liberalism: Ideas and People, Why Europe Needs a Magnitsky Law, and Boris Nemtsov and Russian Politics: Power and Resistance.

Kara-Murza led international efforts to commemorate Nemtsov, including with street designations in Washington D.C. and Vilnius. He is a recipient of the Magnitsky Human Rights Award, the Sakharov Prize for Journalism as an Act of Conscience, the Geneva Summit Courage Award, the Train Foundation’s Civil Courage Prize, and the Oxi Courage Award. He holds an M.A. (Cantab.) in History from Cambridge.

Natalia Arno, the founder of the Free Russia Foundation, will continue serving as President and Board Member (ex officio) and direct day-to-day operations from its headquarters in Washington D.C.

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For more information, please visit the Free Russia Foundation’s website, www.4freerussia.org, or contact Natalia Arno at +1 202.549.2417 and natalia.arno@4freerussia.org.