VIBE 2023: How Kremlin Disinformation Efforts Have Reshaped Media Landscapes in Europe, Eurasia, and Central Asia
(Adnkronos) – WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — The full-scale invasion of Ukraine has had a significant impact on the media and information sectors in countries throughout Europe, Eurasia, and Central Asia, as highlighted in IREX's 2023 Vibrant Information Barometer for Europe and Eurasia (VIBE). Through in-country expert panels held in 18 countries, VIBE assesses how vibrant countries' information systems are in the digital age and explicitly examines newer concepts such as media literacy and information bubbles, along with the quality of information in the media and information sector. The 2023 edition of VIBE shows that most countries throughout all three regions experienced heightened propaganda efforts and disinformation campaigns that the VIBE experts trace directly to the Kremlin and its proxies in Russia. In Ukraine, a November 2022 report by locally based data journalism organization Texty identified 120 Telegram channels created by Kremlin-linked information actors in the initial weeks of the full-scale invasion, claiming that at least half arose from a coordinated effort and were managed from the same location. These channels copied local news feeds to attract subscribers, with the primary goal of spreading Government of Russian rhetoric and simulate Ukrainian support for the occupying Russian forces. In another example, while Georgia has long experienced Kremlin-motivated narratives, the VIBE panel highlighted that destructive impact of the far-right, Government of Russia-affiliated national broadcaster Alt-Info, whose coverage has actively tried to portray the Ukrainian government as a puppet regime of the West, stir anti-NATO skepticism as a tool to distance Georgia from the West, and exacerbate popular fears about the loss of Georgia's occupied territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Kyrgyzstan's panel observed that many people echo pro-Kremlin propaganda that they see on TV programs from Russia. Moreover, Kyrgyzstani citizens have family members or friends who work in Russia and who actively distribute video and audio podcasts from Russian social media networks through instant messenger apps. This phenomenon actively puts in place a multi-layered system of Kremlin propaganda and helps explain how misinformation in Kyrgyzstan continues to proliferate. In Europe, the panel in Bosnia and Herzegovina called the Russian Embassy a leader in spreading disinformation and propaganda, such as biolaboratories that manufacture weapons targeting Russian DNA–which was further spread by the media. The Government of Russia's influence has also contributed to polarization in reporting on the war throughout the country. Media in the Federation, for example, cover it as an invasion of a sovereign state, while those in the Government of Russia-aligned Republika Srpska have adopted the Russia-preferred term "special military operation." VIBE is made possible by the support of the American People through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Please visit our website for country reports and the VIBE Explorer to examine and compare data trends, VIBE principles, regions, and individual countries.
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