Russian Propaganda — Words No Longer Matter
Pro-Kremlin narratives constantly contradict each other, but most of its consumers don’t care. In the eyes of one of Russia’s leading propagandists, the head of RT Margarita Simonyan, what is happening in…
Why soldiers commit war crimes – and what we can do about it
In 2020, the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force released the Afghanistan Inquiry into Australian Defence Force Special Forces atrocities in Afghanistan.
Putin’s propaganda is rooted in Russian history – and that’s why it works
Russia’s war against Ukraine is pressing into its fifth month – despite several rounds of failed peace talks, and Western countries’ issuing severe economic sanctions against Russia.
Putin’s poisonous anti-Western ideology relies heavily on projection
For the past century at least, the Kremlin leadership has failed to understand the West. Though it has at times succeeded in manipulating the West and conducting espionage operations against it, the Kremlin…
Kseniya Kirillova: A Prolonged War in Ukraine Is Advantageous to Russia
On June 18, Lithuania blocked the transit by rail of sanctioned goods between Kaliningrad Oblast and the rest of Russia , a step that Russian propaganda immediately claimed could be a harbinger of a larger war…
Goodwill gestures and de-Nazification: Decoding Putin’s Ukraine War lexicon
Ever since Russian troops first crossed the Ukrainian border on February 24, the Kremlin has employed characteristically euphemistic language in order to downplay the criminal nature of the unfolding invasion.
Why Russia demonizes Ukrainian diasporas
We’re now almost into the fifth month of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and one of the consistent features of Russia’s associated information war is its continuing efforts to defame and demonize Ukrainian diasporas around the world.
Four ways you can design social media posts to combat health misinformation
It’s no secret that online misinformation has been a big problem throughout the pandemic. Of course, health misinformation isn’t exclusive to COVID – it’s a challenge we faced well before the pandemic, exacerbated by the global shift into the digital age.
Regulating online hate will have unintended, but predictable, consequences
The Canadian government is currently holding consultations on a new online hate bill. This bill would update Bill C-36, which addresses hate propaganda, hate crimes and hate speech; the amendment died following the election call last year.
‘Comrade Hitler’ and Other Russian Fantasies
For over a decade, Russian society has been bombarded with hardcore, revanchist propaganda. The West did not take note. A typical Russian soldier who is fighting now in Ukraine is about 20 years old.