Ministry of Information Policy (Ukraine)

Ministry of Information Policy
Міністерство інформаційної політики
Agency overview
Formed 2 December 2014
Jurisdiction Ukraine
Headquarters Kiev
Minister responsible Yuriy Stets
Parent agency Government of Ukraine
Website http://mip.gov.ua/

The Ministry of Information Policy (Ukrainian: Міністерство інформаційної політики; abbreviated MIP) is a government ministry in Ukraine that was established on 2 December 2014.[1][2] It was created concurrently with the formation of the Second Yatsenyuk Government, after the October 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election. The ministry oversees information policy in Ukraine. According to the first Minister of Information, Yuriy Stets, one of the goals of its formation was to counteract "Russian information aggression" amidst pro-Russian unrest across Ukraine, and the ongoing war in the Donbass region.[2][3] Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko said that the main function of the ministry is to stop "the spreading of biased information about Ukraine".[4]

History

A proposal to establish an information ministry for Ukraine was first put forth on 30 November 2014 by Internal Affairs Ministry advisor Anton Herashchenko.[5] He said that ministry could protect "Ukraine's information space from Russian propaganda and counter propaganda in Russia, in the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea and eastern Ukraine".[5] The proposal was made amidst ongoing efforts to form a government, following the October 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election.[5] Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko advocated for the establishment of such a ministry through the night on 1–2 December.[5] It was quickly pushed through parliament with little fanfare. The formation of the Second Yatsenyuk Government was announced on 2 December, with Poroshenko ally Yuriy Stets confirmed as the first Minister for Information Policy.[2][5] One day after his appointment, Stets published the ministry's regulations, which were based on a draft he wrote in 2007–09.[6] According to these regulations, the ministry is meant to "develop and implement professional standards in the media sphere", "ensure freedom of speech", and prevent the spread of "incomplete, outdated, or unreal information.[6]

Prior to its establishment, many Ukrainian journalists protested the creation of the ministry.[5][7] They cited concerns that the ministry would "open the way to grave excesses" in restricting free speech, and that the ministry would inhibit journalists' work. Journalists demonstrating outside the parliament building said that the creation of the ministry was equivalent to "a step back to the USSR".[5][nb 1] The ministry was given the satirical appellation "Ministry of Truth" (Ukrainian: мінправди), a reference to George Orwell's dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.[9][10][11] Reporters without Borders strongly opposed the creation of the ministry, and said that it was a "retrograde step".[12] Petro Poroshenko Bloc politician Serhiy Leshchenko called for the ministry's immediate dissolution, whilst Poroshenko Bloc politician Svitlana Zalishchuk said that ministry's implementation should be put on hold, and that its regulations should be redrafted.[6]

Newly appointed Minister for Information Policy Yuriy Stets said that one of the primary goals of the ministry was to counteract "Russian information aggression"[nb 2] amidst the prolonged 2013–2014 crisis in Ukraine, and the ongoing war in the Donbass region.[2][3] According to Stets, no other Ukrainian government institution was capable of handling this task.[5] He stated that "different states with different historical and cultural experiences in times of crisis came to need to create a body of executive power that would control and manage the information security of the country".[5] Stets also said that the ministry "will in no way try to impose censorship or restrict freedom of speech".[6] President Poroshenko told journalists on 7 December 2014 that the main purpose of the ministry is to stop external "information attacks on Ukraine" by promoting the "truth about Ukraine" across the world.[4] Poroshenko added that it was "foolish" to think that the ministry would become an organ of censorship.[4]

The ministry was officially established by a resolution of the Ukrainian government on 14 January 2015.[14][15] The resolution contained the duties and regulations of the ministry. According to the resolution, the primary objectives of the MIP are to "protect the information sovereignty of Ukraine", and to "implement media reforms to spread socially important information".[14]

A statement released by the ministry on 19 February 2015 announced the creation of an "information force" to counter misinformation on social media and across the internet.[16] The force is targeted at Russia, which has been said to employ an "army of trolls" to spread false information and propaganda during the Ukrainian crisis.[17]

List of ministers

Name of Ministry Name of minister Term of office
Start End
Ministry of Information Policy Yuriy Stets[2] 2 December 2014 Present

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Ukraine was part of the USSR from 1920 until Ukraine declared its independence from the USSR on 24 August 1991.[8]
  2. ↑ Russian state media routinely casts the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine as a conflict between an extremist nationalist Ukrainian Government and a minority of Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine fighting for its rights and traditions.[13]

References

  1. ↑ "Міністр інформаційної політики України" (Press release). Supreme Council of Ukraine. 2 December 2014. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Rada supports coalition-proposed government lineup, Interfax-Ukraine (2 December 2014)
    Rada approves new Cabinet with three foreigners, Kyiv Post (2 December 2014)
    (Ukrainian) Rada voted the new Cabinet, Ukrayinska Pravda (2 December 2014)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ukraine must establish Information Policy Ministry , National Radio Company of Ukraine (2 December 2014)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Poroshenko: Information Ministry's main task is to repel information attacks against Ukraine, Interfax-Ukraine (8 December 2014)
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 "Ukraine just created its own version of Orwell's 'Ministry of Truth'". Mashable. 2 December 2014. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Journalists, free speech activists demand abolishing of newly-formed ‘Ministry of Truth’, Kyiv Post (4 December 2014)
  7. ↑ Recknagel, Charles (3 December 2014). "'No Big Brother!' Ukrainian Journalists Oppose Kyiv's New Ministry of Information". RFERL.
  8. ↑ A History of Ukraine: The Land and Its Peoples by Paul Robert Magocsi, University of Toronto Press, 2010, ISBN 1442610212 (page 563/564 & 722/723)
  9. ↑ "Self Help" asked to vote on each minister separately, have certain questions to the "Ministry of Truth". Ukrayinska Pravda (in Ukrainian). 2 December 2014. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  10. ↑ "Social networks ridicule the 'Ministry of Truth' and its minister". Mirror Weekly (in Russian). 2 December 2014. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  11. ↑ "Ukraine Goes Abroad for Government Ministers". The Wall Street Journal. 2 December 2014. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  12. ↑ "RWB OPPOSES CREATION OF INFORMATION MINISTRY" (Press release). Reporters without Borders. 2 December 2014. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  13. ↑ Ukraine parliament approves new government, Associated Press (2 December 2014)
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "On the Question of the Ministry of Information Policy of Ukraine" (Press release). Government of Ukraine. 14 January 2015. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  15. ↑ "Ministry of Information Policy Set Up". National Radio Company of Ukraine. 14 January 2015. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  16. ↑ "Ministry of Information Policy Initiates the Creation of Information Forces" (Press release). Ministry of Information Policy of Ukraine. 19 February 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  17. ↑ "Ukraine to Establish 'Internet Army' to Fight Online Russian Propaganda". The Moscow Times. 25 February 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.