From ambition to action: building Europe’s Defence Union
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- Area of Expertise
- Peace, Security & Defence
Peace, Security & Defence
Chief Editor at UNITED24 Media
This article is part of a joint campaign between Friends of Europe and UNITED24 Media focused on countering disinformation.
We have all felt the power of words and narratives throughout our lives – in one way or another – because they shape how we understand and process the world around us. Whether through books, television, art, advertising or simply by being social beings – engaging with others and our surroundings – storytelling is at the heart of how we connect and understand.
But what happens when those same words and narratives are twisted and used to sow discord and start wars? For us, Ukrainians, this isn’t a theoretical question. It is a daily reality that millions have had to live with for years. This reality became even more stark on the morning of 24 February 2022. When Russia sent out its first missiles onto peaceful Ukrainian cities, we saw how, within hours, twisted words and narratives were converted into literal tanks, bombs and bullets intended to kill our people and destroy our country. As Putin sat in front of cameras and translated lies about Ukraine to the whole world, justifying the need to invade a sovereign nation with distortions, fakes and blatant untruths, combating disinformation became not just a theoretical issue for us but a matter of survival.
That is when UNITED24 Media was born – created to respond and fight back. In just three years, it has become the largest English-language media platform in the world dedicated to informing global audiences on Russia’s war against Ukraine and its broader impact on international security. From zero, it now reaches more than 75mn monthly users across all social media platforms through contextual analysis, exclusive investigations and timely information directly from Ukraine. But how did we do it, and what can others learn? We simply put our audiences and their needs first.
For years, European and international academics, politicians, journalists and practitioners have been preoccupied with one question: how do we address disinformation that threatens the very stability of our societies? Countless discussions have focused on debunking and pre-bunking – but most have stayed within the realm of theory.
Yet for EU and national policymakers, this tension remains highly relevant. As the continent prepares for future elections, urgent debates around youth engagement, digital literacy and foreign interference have come to the fore. Ukraine’s experience – through platforms like UNITED24 Media – offers actionable lessons on how democratic actors can communicate more effectively and proactively.
As communicating across countries and continents became easier, so did spreading disinformation for political gains
Then, the COVID-19 pandemic marked a significant turning point as all of us have had to retreat and isolate within the walls of our homes. For the first time, over 50% of the global population now had access to the internet. Today, that number continues to grow, representing billions of people whose perceptions can be shaped by the narratives they encounter online. As of February 2025, this number stands at 5.56bn (67.9% of the world population). This is, of course, both a challenge and an opportunity.
For a very long time, democracies and value-driven organisations have been playing catch-up with those who have aimed to deceive and divide societies. Instead of acknowledging this major shift in the communications landscape – which has inevitably had a direct consequence on how our audiences consume information and where they consume it – and adapting to it, we have been preoccupied with responding to threats as opposed to making our own truthful narratives stronger and more robust. We have been too slow and too scared to be present and be bold on those platforms where our audience lives. But for us in Ukraine more broadly, and at UNITED24 Media more specifically, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion, that was no longer an option.
The majority of us came from creative industries, marketing and journalism. We didn’t need to be convinced about the power of words or the role of digital channels in reaching people. That was already something we knew, and we also had years of experience doing it. So, we started from what we knew best: we tested and iterated everything that we did in order to make sure that we were responding to our audience’s needs and reaching them where they consumed content. We knew that if we left them alone on platforms where we had no presence – face-to-face with Russian and other disinformation – truth and facts wouldn’t stand a chance.
That is why we now operate across over 25 different channels – from Instagram to TikTok, WhatsApp, Threads, X and Bluesky – in over five different languages with different teams specialised in different areas. We are virtually present on almost every single platform where our audience consumes content. And what we bring directly to them is reporting from the heart of the action, with our journalists covering the war, combat operations and shelling from where it all happens.
Beyond countering disinformation, Europe must also confront the growing threat of foreign interference aimed at destabilising societies and manipulating elections, as seen recently in Germany’s federal elections and Romania’s presidential election
This model – of meeting audiences where they are, rather than expecting them to come to us – has important implications for how Europe should think about future communications strategies. Beyond countering disinformation, Europe must also confront the growing threat of foreign interference aimed at destabilising societies and manipulating elections, as seen recently in Germany’s federal elections and Romania’s presidential election.
In its recent “Voices for Choices” study, Debating Europe, Friends of Europe’s citizen engagement unit, gathered insights from young people across five EU countries. A key concern among participants was the misuse of AI for propaganda, surveillance and data exploitation – underscoring the urgency of more. When asked about the future of democracy, young people expressed anxiety about how fast-moving digital tools could be used to manipulate rather than inform. This makes audience understanding not just a communications priority – but a democratic one.
But that is not the only approach that helps us fight back effectively. We know that it is extremely hard to catch a person’s attention. On average, a person scrolls through the same amount of content in one day as the height of the Statue of Liberty – all whilst being on the move. This means that people’s attention spans are extremely limited, with millions of brands competing for even a second of attention. That is why we know that it is important to insert our unique voice into ongoing trending and viral discussions to catch people’s attention and grow. When we do that, people who may have never heard of us will get to know us – allowing us to go beyond our bubble and introduce people into our community. Once they come in through our reactive content, we can guide them toward more meaningful storytelling:
This engagement approach, going from grabbing attention to delivering deeper content, offers a replicable template for civil society organisations, EU institutions and media actors looking to rebuild trust and engage diverse audiences across Europe.
At the heart of everything we do is an inherent drive to understand our audiences, in order to not just translate our message outwards with no consideration for those it intends to reach, but to build robust systems to fight Russian disinformation based on understanding audience needs.
In an era where facts are distorted and identities manipulated, Europe cannot afford to stay silent
That is exactly how, earlier this year, we were able to have a real, tangible impact with our reporting in the real world. Our exclusive interview with a Togolese foreign fighter who was deceived by Russia and recruited to fight in Ukraine went viral in Togo thanks to our large platforms across different geographies and our translation of the report into French. It was watched by thousands of people and eventually led to the Government of Togo issuing an official statement alerting citizens to Russia’s tactics of deception in recruiting people to fight – discouraging more citizens from being caught out by Russia and sent to die in Ukraine.
This is just one of many examples of how our strategy has allowed us to fight back against Russian disinformation abroad and lead to real, tangible action on behalf of other states – all by simply bringing the truth to where people consume content. Unfortunately, Ukraine has had to learn fast. In an era where facts are distorted and identities manipulated, Europe cannot afford to stay silent. The rise of authoritarianism is fuelled by disinformation, polarisation and the erosion of truth – posing a direct threat to democratic resilience. Now is the time for European democracies to invest in proactive approaches that prioritise trust-building, digital literacy and compelling, human-centred storytelling. This also means addressing citizens’ concerns about the manipulation risks of emerging technologies like AI – by designing EU-level strategies that embed transparency, ethics and democratic safeguards into how information is communicated. At UNITED24 media, we hope that our experience can allow others in Europe and beyond to be more bold and proactive in building their own truthful and audience-centric platforms that can help protect our democracies and stand up to disinformation. Because, in the end, our strength lies in the truth – but we need to make sure that people listen to it.
The views expressed in this #CriticalThinking article reflect those of the author(s) and not of Friends of Europe.
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