“Latvia is fighting to counter the spread of Moscow’s disinformation. Given its large Russian-speaking community, this is a tough task.” “… Latvia gained its long-awaited independence in the 1990s … then became a member of the [EU] and NATO. But … the country’s Soviet past still has a potent impact …. Even before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine … Latvian […]
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The George Washington University The Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies invites you to: The Russia Program Launch Event A new way to study Russia myemail.constantcontact.com/Mark-Your-Calender–The-Russia-Program-Launch-Event.html?soid=1110347635144&aid=riWi8iX4Jes Friday, March 10, 2023 9:00am – 3:00pm EST Elliott School of International Affairs Lindner Conference Room 602 1957 E St. NW Washington, D.C. 20052 Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has put an end to […]
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“Thanks to Matt Taibbi’s most recent contribution to ‘The Twitter Files,’ we know the full extent of institutional corruption in the mind-boggling case of Hamilton 68.” “The media fell head over heels for a shoddy propaganda operation spearheaded by an ex-FBI agent. Twitter, internally, understood the operation to be partisan hackery but never spoke out. Organizations full of influential ex-government […]
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“Elon Musk says ‘shame on MSNBC’ for pushing misleading Russian bots narratives.” “… [T]he dubious source that … media and Democrats heavily relied on to peddle the false narrative of Russian bot activity on the [Twitter] platform. … [was] Hamilton 68, … spearheaded by former FBI special agent and MSNBC contributor Clint Watts[] [and] operated by the Alliance for Securing […]
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“An argument on Russian state television is a ‘good sign’ that the country’s leadership is cracking, according to [] former U.S. [A]mbassador [McFaul]. Russia [reportedly] has threatened to nationalize assets of Western companies … pull[ing] resources from the country following its [Ukraine] invasion …. Hundreds of companies have already left Russia after expressing dissatisfaction with the war … [I]f the […]
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“The Kremlin’s intensive use of lies and conspiracy theories to defend its invasion of Ukraine has once again dramatized the need for smart policies to counter disinformation. …Perhaps it’s time we learned something from Eastern Europe’s online armies of nongovernment activists — many of them volunteers. They possess authenticity and expertise that outside governments cannot match. … Volunteer activists fight […]
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“News outlets forced to close since Russia invaded Ukraine are soldiering on in exile.” “… [Following] Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin adopted legislation punishing the dissemination of false information about [Russian military activities] with up to 15 years in prison. [The] Kremlin … said … the law was needed because of ‘the absolutely unprecedented information war … against our […]
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(Moscow Times – Alexandra Vladimirova – April 29, 2022) Two days after the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a group of hackers managed to get access to several Russian state-owned television channels and broadcast anti-war videos. But the attack ended after a few minutes and regular programming resumed. This type of fleeting hacking operation has been repeated many times […]
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U.S. Department of State: Fact Sheet: Office of the Spokesperson …. Below are examples of Russian lies about the current crisis and its causes – and the truth […]
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Russian state-funded and state-directed media outlets RT and Sputnik are critical elements in Russia’s disinformation and propaganda ecosystem […]
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MOSCOW. Jan 18 (Interfax) – The Russian embassy and consulates general in Ukraine are operating as usual despite the attacks of Ukrainian radicals and the provocations staged by local law enforcement officers, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday. “The Russian embassy and consulates general to Ukraine are working as usual. They are doing so despite the attacks […]
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Satellite images, social media posts and flight-tracking data allow private analysts to track details governments once classified […]
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“In a televised address broadcast just before midnight in each of Russia’s 11 time zones, Putin said the nation … has faced ‘colossal challenges … ‘ … Russia’s state coronavirus task force has registered … about 10.5 million confirmed infections and 308,860 deaths, but the state statistics agency … [using] broader criteria … has reported nearly 626,000 virus-linked deaths in […]
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(Paul Goble – Dec. 12, 2021) I am happy to report that my health situation has stabilized sufficiently to allow me to prepare Windows on Eurasia again. I have managed to keep up my daily surveys of URLs since mid-October but only more recently have been able to prepare my own posts on them. Because I was not certain how […]
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Dmitry Muratov, editor-in-chief of the independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper, accepted the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo
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“Pressure grows on foreign social media platforms after state-run group’s takeover of Russia’s Facebook.” “The takeover … of VKontakte … by companies tied to … Gazprom has the feel of a final act in a long saga of creeping state control over the company. … [T]he Facebook lookalike’s trajectory has mirrored … the Russian internet … from the freewheeling Ru-net […]
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The staff at Ukraine’s English-language Kyiv Post announced efforts to relaunch as an “independent” publication days after its owner shuttered it amid a dispute over editorial independence […]
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“‘… you have to remember how every single ruble ended up in your account.’ If a report is deemed erroneous, a designated “foreign agent” could face a fine of up to 300,000 rubles ($4,250) or a prison term from two to five years […]
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[Dmitry Muratov,] editor-in-chief of one of Russia’s leading independent newspapers, Novaya Gazeta, has won the Nobel Peace Prize. … for the paper’s reporting on human rights, freedom of speech and other politically sensitive topics […]
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In a separate development, tens of thousands of pro-government bloggers participated in a coordinated campaign to spread positive reports about the course of the parliamentary elections […]
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The “There Are No Foreign Agents, There Are Journalists” campaign comes as Russian authorities target a growing number of media outlets and individual journalists […]
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The websites of several prominent Western news outlets have been targeted by a pro-Russian influence operation that uses the websites’ comment sections to distort public opinion […]
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Russian news journals and websites have joined … to protest against … targeting by authorities of a growing number of independent media outlets and journalists under Russia’s controversial “foreign agent” law […]
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… the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin accelerates its campaign against independent journalism […]
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MOSCOW. Aug. 19 (Interfax) – Moscow will not be trying to prevent BBC journalist Sarah Rainsford from obtaining or getting her visa extended if London applies the same approach towards Russian journalists in Britain, the Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Thursday. “As you know, we always keep our promises. We promised to respond and we did. But this […]
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A Russian court has sentenced five former police officers to several years in prison for the 2019 arrest of investigative journalist Ivan Golunov on trumped-up drug charges. … The journalist suffered bruises, cuts, a concussion, and a broken rib […]
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“A growing number of European countries are blocking access to Belarusian airlines. … after Belarus intercepted a commercial flight and removed and arrested Roman Protasevich, an opposition journalist who was on board. … While Western democracies try to sanction Belarus, Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, seems to support Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. … Fiona Hill … spoke to NPR’s All Things […]
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… Russia’s Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media submitted a draft bill … requiring only commercial, and not state media, to be subjected to financial audits […]
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Analysts say Moscow’s muted reaction to the diversion to Minsk of a Ryanair flight speaks to the Kremlin’s ambivalent view of the strongman. (Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Felix Light – May 24, 2021) In the hours after Belarus shocked the world by forcing a Ryanair plane flying from Athens to Vilnius to land in Minsk and arresting prominent opposition […]
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… The company filed a lawsuit April 23 against Roskomnadzor in the Moscow Arbitration Court […]
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Durov … found[ed] … social networking platform VKontakte, the Russian equivalent of Facebook, and later Telegram, the encrypted messaging app […]
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The [EU] has dismissed Russian authorities’ labeling of Latvia-based independent news outlet Meduza as a “foreign agent” and urged Moscow to end its “systematic infringement” of basic rights and freedoms […]
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Film director Vitaly Mansky … was in the news throughout the festival in Moscow and St. Petersburg as he was closed down by the authorities and attacked by pro-Kremlin activists […]
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The latest attack on Novaya Gazeta is making some of its editors wonder how long it can survive in the country. (Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Felix Light, Pjotr Sauer – March 25, 2021) On the way to work at Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta last Monday morning, journalists noticed a strong chemical stench on the street outside their central Moscow […]
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The Kremlin’s efforts to block social media to protect itself are proving counterproductive, Russian observers say […]
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[This] new website features open access to the full set of the bilingual journal “Transactions of the Association of Russian-American Scholars in the USA” […]
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The share of Russians relying on television as a main source of news continues to decline, while the number of those who depend on social media or internet publications for news is on the rise […]
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The basic questions at play … are not unique to Ukraine, though they are sharpened by Russia’s aggression in the Donbas and Crimea: Who defines the boundary between disinformation and dissonant opinions? […]
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Disinformation by Russia and its allies has increased sharply … Western responses have been weak and uncoordinated … Striking Back presents concrete recommendations for aggressive messaging to combat Russian disinformation […]
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Subject: The Saker and Unz Review Date: Thu, 28 Jan 2021 From: Eliot Borenstein <eb7@nyu.edu> Dear David, As you know, I’ve been an avid reader of Johnson’s List for over two decades, and I really appreciate all that you do. But I continue to be puzzled by your editorial policy. While I understand and applaud the desire to go beyond […]
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… Republican and Democratic lawmakers called for new sanctions against Moscow if the Kremlin moves to enforce stringent restrictions and punishing fines that threaten RFE/RL’s news operations in Russia […]
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Telegram has blocked and shut down hundreds of public calls for violence on channels connected to the recent events in the United States, Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov said […]
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… Navalny has announced … he will return to Russia … following months of recuperation after being poisoned by a Novichok-type nerve agent …. Compelling evidence indicates he was poisoned by … FSB[] operatives …. The Kremlin has said it was not involved … but has refused to cooperate […]
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The Russian-language … Google posted its end-of-year video summarizing … top searches and main events in 2020. Spoiler alert: it’s as depressing as you think […]
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New research shows the growth of mobile internet leads to falling trust in governments, with Navalny as the prime example. (Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jake Cordell – Dec. 4, 2020) The rapid spread of mobile internet around the world over the last decade has directly contributed to falling levels of trust in government and a surge in populism, according […]
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MOSCOW. Oct 26 (Interfax) – The Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) and the Interfax Group have announced the launch of a new joint project called Russia and the World: A Professional Conversation. They signed an agreement on its implementation on Monday, October 26. The project will include a series of expert meetings dealing […]
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… According to the survey, … 48 percent of Russians rely on state television for their news and information while 44 percent rely on the Internet […]
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“Hundreds of journalists have gone on strike demanding fair coverage of demonstrations.” “… [In] a sea change at … [Belarus’s] normally pliant state media[,] [h]undreds of journalists have gone on strike demanding fair coverage of the [anti-Lukashenko] protests and … brutal police crackdown …. Several have resigned …. [S]tate media … remains a crucial tool in … Lukashenko’s attempt to […]
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Tens of thousands of peaceful demonstrators in Belarus have gathered in recent days to protest President Alexander Lukashenko’s disputed victory and the violent police crackdown that followed […]
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