An all-encompassing Russian disinformation campaign is using everything from bots to lifestyle influencers to powerful state-run media to sow division in the United States.
As someone who has been dealing with Russian propaganda, it works in one of two ways:
Way I: divide and divide
Find an issue that divides your enemy.
Amplify fringe voice on the issue, make the most divisive element into the most vocal one.
Once the fringe becomes more popular, amplify the opposing voice to grant legitimacy to the fringe elements.
Watch the fireworks.
Notable examples: environmental movements in the west, antivax, Black/Blue Lives Matter
Way II: post modernist bullshit
We are maybe right
We are maybe wrong
You can’t trust us
You can’t trust them
You can’t trust anyone or anything
Nothing can be true or can ever be verified
Harder to point at examples, but if anything becomes an issue that’s talked about you will see a lot of articles that talk a lot and say little to muddy the waters and make the public doubt the truth.
I read ‘The Future is History’ by Masha Gessen and it’s all about Way II. They lay it out in sharp detail via interviews with Russians of all ages. It was eye opening.
As someone who has been dealing with Russian propaganda, it works in one of two ways:
Way I: divide and divide
Find an issue that divides your enemy.
Amplify fringe voice on the issue, make the most divisive element into the most vocal one.
Once the fringe becomes more popular, amplify the opposing voice to grant legitimacy to the fringe elements.
Watch the fireworks.
Notable examples: environmental movements in the west, antivax, Black/Blue Lives Matter
Way II: post modernist bullshit
We are maybe right
We are maybe wrong
You can’t trust us
You can’t trust them
You can’t trust anyone or anything
Nothing can be true or can ever be verified
Harder to point at examples, but if anything becomes an issue that’s talked about you will see a lot of articles that talk a lot and say little to muddy the waters and make the public doubt the truth.
I read ‘The Future is History’ by Masha Gessen and it’s all about Way II. They lay it out in sharp detail via interviews with Russians of all ages. It was eye opening.