Fear as a Weapon. How to Stay Informed, Not Afraid, in Anxious Times

The conference “Fear as a Weapon. How to stay informed, not afraid, in anxious times?” takes place in Vilnius on 17 November 2026, 10:00-13:30 (doors open from 9:30). It addresses one main question: how to tell a real warning from a panic campaign, and how can media, institutions and communities respond together when it is hard to tell. It will bring together a community of people and organisations from Lithuania and Ukraine who work on information resilience, including civil society, media, researchers and public institutions.

The conference will be held in three parts:

Part 1. Analysis: how fear is used as a weapon
We start with the big picture. Why do fear and strong emotions make disinformation work, and how does it use the divisions that already exist in society? Then we look at fear narratives from two sides. Vytautas Matulevičius (Bosanova) will share what recent research shows about which Kremlin narratives Lithuanians believe and why. Lukian Halkin (Molfar Intelligence Institute, Ukraine) will explain how Russia creates and spreads frightening news, and what Ukraine has learned from years of war about telling real warnings from information operations.

Part 2. Media panel: who decides what is true
Leading voices from Lithuanian media and state institutions will discuss how to report on risks without feeding fear, who decides what is true, and who takes responsibility. We will also ask where the line is between fighting disinformation, government communication and freedom of speech, and how journalists, fact-checkers and the state can work together and still stay independent.

Part 3. Communities: what works on the ground
Organisations working with Lithuanian and Ukrainian communities will share short stories from their practice: what problem they faced, what they did, what worked, and what they would not repeat. We will also share the experience of our own community projects for Ukrainians in different regions of Lithuania. The goal is simple: practical ideas on how to engage people and support them when scary rumours spread.

The event is moderated by Ana Ruzgienė (LRT.lt journalist, TV host and media literacy expert) and opens with welcome words from Dr. Cornelius Zimmermann (Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Lithuania) and Sandra Adomavičiūtė (Director of the Open Lithuania Foundation).

Some of the confirmed speakers:

– Aleksandra Ketlerienė, political journalist and Deputy Editor-in-Chief of LRT
– Margarita Vorobjovaitė, journalist of the 15min fact-checking team “15min Verified”.
– Mantas Martišius, Chairman of the Radio and Television Commission of Lithuania.
– Vytautas Matulevičius, Managing Partner and CEO of Bosanova, a Vilnius-based public relations and communications agency.
– Lukian Halkin, Head of Molfar Intelligence Institute, a Ukrainian international educational and research NGO specializing in OSINT and digital security.
– Vlada Dumenko, Head of Communications at the International Center for Ukrainian Victory (ICUV).
– The rest of the speakers will be added gradually on the conference page.

How to participate:

Register via the link https://forms.gle/LNUQey6zMQnc4jGz5

The event will be held in English, with simultaneous interpretation into Ukrainian available. The venue will be confirmed and announced shortly.

The conference is a part of the project “Laboratory of Ideas for Media Resilience: Strengthening Resilience and Media Literacy of the Ukrainian Community in Lithuania 2.0”, implemented by Ukreate Hub and Atviros Lietuvos Fondas. Funded by the Resilience Initiative of the German Federal Foreign Office. More information: https://ukreatehub.eu/laboratory-of-ideas-2/