Putin's Massive Global Disinformation Campaign

Posted:

Trigger

Just read Putinformation  Russian propaganda in the age of postmodernism.

Here are some salient excerpts (emphasis added):

1. “The Russian propaganda machine is being credited with almost magical powers of penetration and persuasion. NATO’s military commander, General Philip Breedlove, has called it “the most amazing information warfare blitzkrieg we have ever seen.” David Remnick, editor of the New Yorker, who covered the last years of the Soviet Union for the Washington Post, calls RT “darkly, nastily brilliant, so much more sophisticated than Soviet propaganda.””
2. “Indeed, the global reach of Russian propaganda is impressive. RT, the flagship operation, broadcasts news and talk shows in five major languages with a potential audience of over 700 million people in 100 countries. It also garners a significant following on YouTube.”
3. “Then there is the shadow army of Kremlin-paid Internet “trolls” who closely monitor social media as well as major Western news sites, ready to pounce on critics of the Kremlin. The aim of the Kremlin’s messaging, as one expert put it, is “not to persuade (as in classic public diplomacy) or earn credibility but to sow confusion via conspiracy theories and proliferate falsehoods.””
4. “This effort is generously funded. This year the Kremlin bankrolled RT to the tune of $400 million, while the global news agency Rossiya Segodnya (Russia Today) received $170 million. For comparison, Voice of America’s budget this year is $212 million and that of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty $104 million—in a country whose GDP is nine times Russia’s.”

From Soviet Global Disinformation To Putin’s Global Disinformation

I have no doubts that the former KGB officer Vladimir Putin the Terrible is behind a lot of disinformation strategically and tactically disseminated through western media to sow discontent and discord.

There have been a number of reports that Russia is behind significant funding of some of the best known environmentalist groups in the West like Sierra Club or Greenpeace. Who has the most to gain e.g. when the Keystone XL Pipeline is not built?

Personally, I have noticed that some of the remarks posted in Internet forums or reader comments on Western media sites could have been written by Putin’s henchmen.