Shop Notes

Russia's disinformation strategy

By: Lynne Perri

Posted: Jan. 19, 2017 | Tags: journalism

“Louise

Photo by Jeff Watts, AU

Louise Lief

Louise Lief, our scholar in residence, writes about Russia's manipulation of news and information, not only in U.S. elections but in other countries as well.

Lief's analysis in The Columbia Journalism Review says Russians have "pioneered new, computerized ways to pollute the information ecosystem. The Russians were among the earliest to massively scale up and deploy trolls and bots, Potemkin communities of fake users that support or oppose various positions." 

She cites examples in the Urkraine, Moldova and Lithuania that range from partially fake news (facts but false conclusions) to fake broadcasts of fake atrocities against children. Journalists continue to debunk these stories, but Lief reports that it's a struggle to keep up.




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