Aleksandra Michałowska-Kubś and Jakub Kubś, researchers at Debunk.org, have found that the ongoing war in Ukraine has led to a rise in disinformation campaigns spread by Russia. These campaigns, which often use a complex machine of both traditional and social media, aim to spread propaganda and certain narratives beyond Russia’s borders to weaken trust in government and international institutions, as well as create divisions and unrest.
Debunk.org has conducted an analysis of problematic information in Baltic countries (Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia) and found that while each country was targeted with slightly different narratives, dis- and misinformation were serving Russia’s strategic interests. The study monitored the media space of these countries in search of problematic content and found that it can spread through various means, such as Coordinated Inauthentic Behaviour (CIB), organic spread, poor journalistic standards, or human ignorance. It should be noted that the disinformation content is often coming from sources that are either supported or affiliated with the Kremlin.
Vol. 4 – No. 1, 2023: Dis- and Misinformation about the Ukraine-Russia War: A Case Study of the Baltic Countries (Aleksandra Michałowska-Kubś in Jakub Kubś) [ENG]