The globe has become smaller with the onset of digital era – news travel fast and Internet has all the answers at the finger tips. But governments across the globe are failing to keep up with the frantic pace of digital technology developments.
Those who kept an eye on Congress testimony of Mark Zuckerberg in Cambridge analytica case are well aware of the Russian meddling in the US Presidential elections of 2016. Even though recent Muller report allegedly states, there was no Russian collusion on behalf of Donald Trump and his team members, all security services of the USA unanimously acknowledge the Russian meddling did take place in fact.
Mr. Zuckerberg speaks to Congress
Facebook took action, learnt all the lessons and those steps yielded the first fruits: Macron, not Le Pen in the Presidential seat of France. No more roubles for political ads in other countries – figuratively speaking – though Facebook CEO did not confirm the literal action will be impossible in future. All political ads are now marked respectively and have visible to public stats.
With Facebook door nearly closed for electoral manipulation, new tricks are being tried and tested by grey cardinals of politics. Ukraine has seen a major twist in the weave of political fabric executed by totally new means – by means of a TV show.
This now is definitely a new trick in the electoral manipulation book.
Targeting the most naïve, sometimes poorly educated TV-addicted electorate, the Servant of the People TV show by production studio "Kvartal 95", managed by Zelenskiy, has garnered millions of views. The story of a next-door-guy-ordinary-teacher getting to a Presidential seat and changing the country in idealistic populistic manner has been a hit amongst grannies, students and middle class workers alike. The bicycle-riding Goloborod"ko"s fight against the oligarchy, the stand against the IMF tranches have had millions glued to TV screens for 3 years.
Print screen from the "Servant of the people" show
Now with the last season of the show due to be released soon and with Presidential election looming in a week, the country has the actor playing Goloborod"ko as the Presidential election front runner.
The candidate admits he is not qualified to be the president: but he rarely stresses absence of any political background, lack of diplomatic experience or a glaring abyss in his knowledge of basics of statesmanship or any understanding of the European political structure. The candidate only brings his lack of political experience with positive connotation – as the token of him not having had the chance to get corrupted by the system.
He often sites how great it is that current political establishment can be shaken to the core by somebody as incorrupt as he is.
While avoiding any live debates and only doing interviews in highly controlled environments, where video and audio prompters, pre-agreed upon questions and chamber atmosphere all help the candidate to produce as little as possible un-prepped thoughts – the candidate and his team make sure Goloborod"ko – Zelenskiy line does not get blurred away.
As the Range Rover-riding Zelenskiy, who is reportedly subservant to Kolomoyskiy, /Ukraine"s notorious oligarch, who is also pro-default/, — is not the same as a bicycle-riding, anti-oligarchy, anti-IMF Goloborod"ko. It is just not the right time for the people of Ukraine to connect the dots. So "Ze" team makes sure this revelation does not occur prior to elections.
Real-life talk with "Radio Svoboda" Journalist, Mr. Zlenskiy boards the Range Rover and denies the facts he will later apologize for denying.
Mr. Zelenskiy had a meeting with Ambassador of the USA Marie Yovanovych and Kurt Volker, the US Special Representative of Department of State for Ukraine Negotiations. Ever since that meeting Mr. Zelenskiy keeps mentioning Mr. Volker"s plan of return of the ATO zone back under Ukrainian control as the one he agrees with – while having difficulties to further explain how exactly this can be achieved.
These frequent mentions of Volker"s plan by Zelenskiy, alongside the signals from Ambassador of the USA re: corruption, and Lutsenko"s recent statement about pressure from US embassy all have been translated by many as the fact, that US seems to have picked the sides in the Ukraine"s elections.
At the same time, Zelenskiy has been blamed to have tightest connections to Russia and is definitely a favourite candidate from Kremlin standpoint – whereby all Russian state channels air their loud support for this candidate. Ze team is reported to boast a number of Russian political advisors, with some interviews even featuring Russian state tax of 6% instead of Ukrainian 5% equivalent. The rare interview to hand-picked foreign journalists, that took place mid-March, featured an array of Moscow-assigned Russian-speaking journalists of Figaro, Washington Post etc.
Chewing up on a snack, Mr. Zelenskiy shakes hands with Noah Sneider, Moscow-based journalist representing Economist
Information technology is indeed evolving. But the governments are now failing to keep pace to take advantage of it.
But there are different reasons why governments world over fail to use the technology, but rather get subjected to all kinds of threats due to its development. Some governments are busy fighting off one of the most powerful armies in the world on its own intruded upon soil, some – fall prey to the naïve story of a new untainted President.
And other governments create this very story and are leading the use of technology in the geopolitical games: Trump after Brexit time after time again.
