COVID-19 AS A TOOL OF INFORMATION CONFRONTATION: RUSSIA’S APPROACH
As the rest of the world struggles to cope with COVID-19, Russia is churning out propaganda that blames the West for creating the virus. Propaganda is, of course, nothing new for Russia; such practices have a long history dating back to the Soviet era. What’s different now, though, is that with the...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Calgary
2020-03-01
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| Series: | The School of Public Policy Publications |
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| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.11575/sppp.v13i0.70113 |
| _version_ | 1818259543350575104 |
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| author | Sergey Sukhankin |
| author_facet | Sergey Sukhankin |
| author_sort | Sergey Sukhankin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | As the rest of the world struggles to cope with COVID-19, Russia is churning out propaganda that blames the West for creating the virus. Propaganda is, of course, nothing new for Russia; such practices have a long history dating back to the Soviet era. What’s different now, though, is that with the internet and social media, Russia has many more ways to propagate fake news and conspiracy theories, and to reach susceptible audiences both inside and outside the country.
Russia is using social media accounts, fake news outlets, state-controlled global satellite media, bloggers, pseudo-scientists and supposed scholars, experts and Russians living in the West to disseminate its lies and distortions. The European Union’s External Action Service reports almost 80 incidents of disinformation since the end of January.
However, Russia has a more insidious goal than merely disseminating propaganda for the sake of it. President Vladimir Putin, who has labelled the fall of the Soviet Union nearly 30 years ago as “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe” of the 20th century, is determined to show the international community that Russia is no longer the weak creature it was post-Soviet collapse. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T18:17:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-34d49d1fffb343aa8086be2aebc30e07 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2560-8312 2560-8320 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T18:17:07Z |
| publishDate | 2020-03-01 |
| publisher | University of Calgary |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The School of Public Policy Publications |
| spelling | doaj.art-34d49d1fffb343aa8086be2aebc30e072022-12-22T00:16:14ZengUniversity of CalgaryThe School of Public Policy Publications2560-83122560-83202020-03-01133110COVID-19 AS A TOOL OF INFORMATION CONFRONTATION: RUSSIA’S APPROACHSergey Sukhankin0The School of Public PolicyAs the rest of the world struggles to cope with COVID-19, Russia is churning out propaganda that blames the West for creating the virus. Propaganda is, of course, nothing new for Russia; such practices have a long history dating back to the Soviet era. What’s different now, though, is that with the internet and social media, Russia has many more ways to propagate fake news and conspiracy theories, and to reach susceptible audiences both inside and outside the country. Russia is using social media accounts, fake news outlets, state-controlled global satellite media, bloggers, pseudo-scientists and supposed scholars, experts and Russians living in the West to disseminate its lies and distortions. The European Union’s External Action Service reports almost 80 incidents of disinformation since the end of January. However, Russia has a more insidious goal than merely disseminating propaganda for the sake of it. President Vladimir Putin, who has labelled the fall of the Soviet Union nearly 30 years ago as “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe” of the 20th century, is determined to show the international community that Russia is no longer the weak creature it was post-Soviet collapse.http://dx.doi.org/10.11575/sppp.v13i0.70113disinformationfake newsrussiachinainformation confrontationcanadacovid-19 |
| spellingShingle | Sergey Sukhankin COVID-19 AS A TOOL OF INFORMATION CONFRONTATION: RUSSIA’S APPROACH The School of Public Policy Publications disinformation fake news russia china information confrontation canada covid-19 |
| title | COVID-19 AS A TOOL OF INFORMATION CONFRONTATION: RUSSIA’S APPROACH |
| title_full | COVID-19 AS A TOOL OF INFORMATION CONFRONTATION: RUSSIA’S APPROACH |
| title_fullStr | COVID-19 AS A TOOL OF INFORMATION CONFRONTATION: RUSSIA’S APPROACH |
| title_full_unstemmed | COVID-19 AS A TOOL OF INFORMATION CONFRONTATION: RUSSIA’S APPROACH |
| title_short | COVID-19 AS A TOOL OF INFORMATION CONFRONTATION: RUSSIA’S APPROACH |
| title_sort | covid 19 as a tool of information confrontation russia s approach |
| topic | disinformation fake news russia china information confrontation canada covid-19 |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.11575/sppp.v13i0.70113 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT sergeysukhankin covid19asatoolofinformationconfrontationrussiasapproach |