DFG-funded project "War Sensing" investigates how digital media and data practices shape representations of war

Satellite images of destroyed neighbourhoods, blurred videos showing missiles being fired over Ukrainian cities, private chats from the bomb shelter in Kyiv. Since February 2022, the war in Ukraine has been constantly visible on numerous channels - sent by numerous civilians in addition to traditional media and official bodies. In the "War Sensing" project, which is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) as part of the Collaborative Research Centre "Media of Cooperation", Miglė Bareikytė and Johanna Hiebl are investigating the effects of this change. They are concerned with a practical dimension of media technologies: "Sensing here refers to the cooperation between people and contemporary media technologies. Sensors, satellites, social networks - these digital technologies influence what we learn about war and how we perceive it," says project initiator and director Miglė Bareikytė, explaining the approach.

In a first step, she and Johanna Hiebl, research assistant in the project, analysed investigative practices of various actors and institutions in the Baltic states. In Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, they interviewed journalists and activists from public broadcasters, investigative non-governmental organisations and internet platforms that collect, analyse and publish freely available data on Russian propaganda and destabilisation measures and the current war. "We are observing an 'investigative turn' involving various actors, including journalists, but also activists and think tanks, who are increasingly analysing not only the digital dimension of a hybrid war in the Baltic states, but also its wider implications, such as the circumvention of sanctions. This points to the emergence of a growing and critical media public sphere in the Baltic states," says Miglė Bareikytė, describing her observations.

One of the aims of the project is to understand the landscape and working practices of actors who counter Russian disinformation, says Johanna Hiebl. In addition to their geographical and geopolitical location, the Baltic states are also of interest to the researchers because of their Russian-speaking population. "Since the annexation of Crimea, these countries have increasingly been the target of state-led Russian information policy," says Johanna Hiebl. In addition, a large number of critical journalists have migrated from Russia to the Baltic states.

While the first year of the project took the researchers mainly to the Baltic states, the second stage will focus more closely on Ukrainian actors. In cooperation with colleagues from the Centre for Urban History of East Central Europe in Lviv, photos, videos and messages from Ukrainian users of publicly accessible channels of the messaging service Telegram will be examined. The practice of digital archiving is also the subject of research here. The research team is interested in the texts, images and voice messages archived in the centre in Lviv: how do users discuss the war and their everyday lives in the chats; what information do they pass on and can this be used to investigate war crimes? Last but not least, there is also the question of research ethics: who owns all this data and who is authorised to use it and how? The fact that the focus has now shifted from the Baltic states to Ukraine highlights a challenge that has been troubling the War Sensing team since the start of the project: they are not officially allowed to travel to Ukraine on official business. The researchers are concerned about how they can credibly write about such complex social developments without being part of or at least on-site observers.

As part of her work on the project, Johanna Hiebl is investigating for her dissertation project how civilian open-source data practices are challenging traditional military and journalistic frameworks in the context of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and what social dynamics are created by the participation of amateur actors.

The ongoing war, the travel restrictions, the constantly growing amount of data - the research field of the two Viadrina researchers is challenging. "Unfortunately, the war is real and it is changing Central and Eastern European societies and Europe as a whole; it's complicated," says Miglė Bareikytė, commenting on the situation. However, DFG funding also gives them the privilege and resources to conduct basic research. For Johanna Hiebl, the topicality and dynamism of her PhD and research work is motivating: "It doesn't feel like science in an ivory tower at all. The field is sparsely populated and research is all the more important." She says this with conviction, also with regard to Germany, which she considers to be extremely poorly positioned in the area of disinformation and hybrid warfare. Beyond her doctoral project, she hopes to contribute to an improvement in this area with dedicated knowledge.

About the people

Miglė Bareikytė has been Professor of Digital Studies at the European New School of Digital Studies (ENS) at the European University Viadrina since 2023. Previously, she conducted research at the University of Siegen on digital dimensions of war, digital media, conflict and disinformation and digitalisation in Europe. She heads the project "War Sensing", which is funded by the DFG as part of the Collaborative Research Centre "Media of Cooperation" (SFB 1187) at the University of Siegen.
Miglė Bareikytė studied Communication and Information Studies/Publishing (B.A.) in Vilnius, Social and Political Critical Studies (M.A.) in Kaunas and Media and Communication Studies (M.A.) in Berlin. In 2020, she received her doctorate from the graduate programme "Cultures of Critique" at Leuphana University Lüneburg with a dissertation on the post-socialist internet in Lithuania.

Johanna Hiebl is a doctoral candidate at the ENS and a research assistant in the "War Sensing" project. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Slavic and German Studies from the University of Heidelberg and a German-Polish Master's degree in Multicultural Communication from the European University Viadrina and the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań.
Since 2018, she has been actively involved in projects at the interface of science and civil society at Viadrina, including initiatives such as Ukraine Calling. After the Russian invasion in 2022, she coordinated digital support projects at Ukrainian universities that continued research and teaching under fire.

Frauke Adesiyan