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What did 20 October 2020 reveal about Kyiv's information wars?
Summary
A Kyiv court ruling on a banned book and a US row over Ukraine-linked claims showed how contested narratives had become in the days before 20 October 2020.
What did the days around 20 October 2020 show about the fight over information involving Ukraine? Two separate stories, one in Kyiv and one in the United States, pointed in the same direction: disputes over who controls a narrative.
A book banned in Kyiv
On 19 October 2020, the Darnytskyi District Court of Kyiv granted a lawsuit by Viktor Medvedchuk seeking a ban on Vakhtang Kipiani's non-fiction book "The Case of Vasyl Stus". The ruling meant a published work of non-fiction was prohibited after a claim brought by a named public figure. By 20 October 2020, the decision was the latest development in the case.
A US row with a Ukrainian company at its centre
The other story had unfolded days earlier. On 14 October 2020, the New York Post reported that newly uncovered emails suggested Hunter Biden had introduced his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden, to a top executive at the Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings. The Post said it had obtained the alleged emails from Rudy Giuliani, described as a top adviser to Donald Trump.
The platforms reacted quickly. On the same day, Twitter and Facebook announced they were limiting the distribution of the article until it was fact-checked. On 15 October 2020, Twitter locked the Trump presidential campaign's account for sharing private information without a person's permission, in connection with a controversial Hunter Biden video. The account was later unlocked.
Contested narratives
The Burisma story belonged to a wider set of claims about Ukraine. Since 2016, Trump and his allies have promoted several conspiracy theories linked to the 2019 Trump–Ukraine scandal, including one seeking to blame Ukraine rather than Russia for interference in the 2016 US presidential election, and accusations against Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
The settings differed: a Kyiv courtroom and an American election campaign. In both, the question was whether a text could circulate, and who could decide that. In Kyiv, a court answered by banning a book. In the United States, social platforms answered by restricting an article and locking an account.
