Why do I believe that propaganda should be banned?

ESSAY by NASTA ZAKHAREVICH

A few weeks ago, my mother asked me about NATO's nuclear deterrence exercises, as Russian propaganda reported that they would take place near Russia's border. However, the exercises, which, by the way, are routine, are taking place in northwestern Europe. My mother does not believe in the Kremlin's propaganda, but she does have some second thoughts from time to time.

Journalists should not lie. But some of them do. Sure, it is hard to call Russian propagandists journalists. They do not follow the rules of ethics, and their goals have nothing to do with exposing the truth. They create a parallel reality and try to convince people that they see the truth not in the window but on TV.

And so the Kremlin's propaganda forged the message that in Ukrainian laboratories, birds were made into biological weapons against the Russians. In turn, the Lukashenka regime's propaganda reported that an attack on Belarus was being prepared, so Russia made the pre-emptive strike. And it is difficult for many to imagine that a lie can be so cynical, so they begin to look for some other explanation, gradually becoming doubtful of the reality around them.

It is why the ban on Russian TV channels in Latvia is not a restriction of freedom of speech but a fight against disinformation. Russia is a state that sponsors terrorism, and its information policy goal is to portray this terrorism as a "holy war." Even though it's probably hard to mention the war at all since the Kremlin forbids calling the war "a war."

The state institutions do everything to bring this goal to fruition because they believe that the end justifies the means. There are no ethical or legal constraints nor any filter called "common sense." Like in classic dystopias, a new language is created to describe reality in such a way that white becomes black, war becomes peace, and war crimes become a reason for awarding medals.

And Belarusian officials depend on Putin and his money, so Russian propaganda transforms into Belarusian propaganda. It is symptomatic that this propaganda manipulates values and aspires to be present in a democratic world where every opinion should be heard. It all sounds beautiful, but there is a nuance: by appealing to the values of freedom of speech, propagandists serving dictatorships contribute to destroying all freedoms.

While propaganda machines are intolerant of dissent, they demand unconditional acceptance from others. They are like parasites consuming everything around them. If one gives propaganda even a little space, it will quickly fill everything with itself.

And all of a sudden, it appears that reports of war crimes are an "opinion" or even "fake news." And since all opinions have the right to exist, we should probably hear "opinions" that there were no massacres in Bucha or that life in Mariupol is splendid nowadays.

How do the mechanics of lying work? A fact is first defined only as "one of the opinions," which is then countered by disinformation, referred to as "another opinion." As a result, the fact is slowly pushed out under pressure from propagandists.

When we defend ourselves against disinformation, we are often told we undermine freedom of speech. However, we simply defend ourselves against lies. Because it is enough for the triumph of evil that good people did nothing. So we should finally act.