A Longtime Moscow Correspondent On Russia’s Information War Vs. Ukraine
Alex Kantrowitz
Founder of Big Technology | Tech Newsletter and Podcast | CNBC Contributor
Discussing the Kremlin’s social media campaigns is so charged following the 2016 U.S. election that many still can’t look at it with clear eyes. Is Russia a social media superpower? A scapegoat? Something in the middle??Depends who you ask.
Information warfare, however, is playing a key role in the Ukraine conflict. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has used Twitter and selfie videos to rally much of Europe and North America to his side, helping him secure unprecedented military and humanitarian aid for his cause. Inside Russia, social media blackouts and new laws punishing those spreading “fake news” are shaping the perceived reality.?
On places like Twitter, where nuance is dead, conversations about this issue tend to devolve. But they lend themselves to podcast conversations, where subject matter experts like Miriam Elder can unpack what’s happening with appropriate context. Elder spent years in Moscow as The Guardian’s correspondent there and she has a keen understanding of how to make sense of the information we’re seeing —?and not seeing.?
Living through history helps us question and interrogate our assumptions. And we did plenty of that on this podcast. You can listen to our conversation here:
Some highlights:
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Russia’s propaganda goals aren’t necessary to make it look good
“The way it works isn't always that you have to believe the line that they're pushing —?the point is to make the very idea of truth unknowable. So it's just to kind of muddy the waters.”
Why did U.S. journalists underestimate the possibility of war?
“It’s probably like a confluence of factors. There isn't a lot of trust in government generally. Then you do have reporters who might have felt they went too far on Russia-gate and didn't want to go down that path again. It was like a perfect storm.”
Will Russia move to Bitcoin?
“Russia is not the first country to be sanctioned and use Bitcoin. North Korea has been for a long time using it to some degree using it to avoid sanctions. So I think that there's probably some precedent to read up on.”
Stay tuned for next week! What else would you like to hear about? What do you think about this week's episode?
That was sobering. Since she was a former colleague, do you know Miriam to be an alarmist, realist or do you just not know?
Foreign and Defense Policy Business
2 年Propaganda is just as bad in America. US Social media and platforms censor people and ideas, political choice, freedom of speech and have become overt and proud of these debilitating liberties in our country. It's hypocritical to talk about one nation when your nation spins its political elite media machine daily. Until we get more checks and balances within our country we don't need to spew poison about other countries while we Americans are under attack by our own government elite.