Russian Spread of Misinformation

Misinformation is false information about a subject, this can be either done on purpose or on accident. However, most often, misinformation is created on purpose, often to deceive a person/party. Today, the most popular example of misinformation being spread in the media involves Russia. Russians have been suspected to have tampered with US politics. This has caused some wariness in US citizens worried about their country being breached. However, the US government has been investigating more about Russians spreading misinformation.

Russians use misinformation and propaganda to undermine confidence in the politics of other countries. Countries targeted by Russia include Ukraine, Canada, and the US. During the 2016 election, the FBI found that Russia was spreading misinformation and propaganda to alter the results of the election. A more recent example of Russians spreading misinformation is during the 2020-2021 pandemic. During the pandemic, especially with the vaccine, Russians have been spreading misinformation to cause chaos and distrust in the US political system. Overtime, the GEC, Global Engagement Center, has found several proxy sites through which Russia has been spreading misinformation regarding a variety of topics.

The Strategic Culture Foundation

The Strategic Culture Foundation is an online journal in Russia that is run by the Russian Forgein Intelligence Service. This journal focuses on giving conspiracy theorists a platform to explain their theories and allowing them to reach a larger audience. Westerners that read these journals are influenced by these theories and can thus cause them to lose trust in our political system, and Russia knows this and is why they are funding this journal.

New Eastern Outlook

New Eastern Outlook is a false academic publication. It is run by the Russian Academy of Science’s Institute of Oriental Studies. This so-called academic publication promotes propaganda and misinformation in countries in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. The journal pretends to be a respectable source by offering academic resources and publications, while at the same time covering up the fact that it is funded by Russian institutions.

Geopolitica.ru

The authors of the articles published on this website are Russian supporters who try to break down the ideals of Western nations, an example being democracy. Geopolitica.ru works with other Russian misinformation outlets to further spread the misinformation and to thus cause more distrust in our society.

In order to deal with the misinformation constantly being spread by Russia, the US and other countries being targeted by Russia have come to four conclusions. The first is that an entire country acts unicent in order to stop the spread of misinformation. The second being that overtime and as countries respond to misinformation, the tactics that are used to spread misinformation will change and get more sophisticated. The next being reliant on democratic principles in the response. All parties involved must show integrity, be transparent in all that they are doing, and accept accountability for any mistakes made. The final conclusion is based around an alliance between the democratic countries being targeted by Russia’s misinformation. In order to stop the spread of Russian propaganda and misinformation, it will take all the countries being targeted to form an alliance and work together ensuring that they are transparent, show integrity, and show accountability whilst working together. Currently, the US is gathering more and more information about Russia’s tactics in spreading misinformation in order to create an effective response that will minimize or even eliminate the spread of misinformation by Russia.