I examined the article, Disinformation and the Media: the Case of Russia and Ukraine, which discusses the war between Russia and Ukraine, specifically the ways that social media manipulated the citizens of both countries.

The article starts by discussing the role that social media has in creating political change, particularly after the failures of the ‘Arab Spring’ and ‘Occupy’ movements; stating that these failures caused many researchers to dismiss social media’s significance. It pushes back against this skepticism, showing evidence of the ways that social media was used, by the government, media companies, and even citizens, to exacerbate conflict. It also looks at the changes in the media landscape since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, particularly in its various biases.

I found it interesting – albeit slightly scary – as I started seeing the ways that the social media landscape, as well as political discourse, in Australia, has a lot of similarities to both Russia and Ukraine, particularly in the way that ordinary citizens were creating and spreading disinformation just as widely, if not wider, than either traditional media, or ‘troll factories.’ I remember hearing on a podcast (possibly one of Wil Anderson’s) that most successful cult leaders and scammers have at least a small amount of belief in what they’re doing, which seems to tie in with the citizens’ actions.

The situation in Ukraine also resonated with me, with the authors stating that the regime change supporters claimed to be the ‘majority,’ even though much of the Ukrainian population were not online, and were unaware of the situation at hand. I have definitely seen this ‘echo chamber majority’ situation happening, both here in Australia, and worldwide. In many countries in South America, groups claiming to be ‘the majority’ often attempt to undermine populist left governments, and get favourable media coverage for it. Western left-wing movements, such as those supporting Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn, also seem to get stuck inside echo chambers, and have often not realised that they have not convinced anyone outside their circle to join in.

This article is useful for media students, especially journalism students, because it is able to show the ways that disinformation can be spread through social media, and the parallels between the lead-up to the Russo-Ukrainian War, and other political crises overseas.

References:

Mejias, U & Vokuev, N 2017, ‘Disinformation and the Media: the Case of Russia and Ukraine’, Media, Culture & Society, vol. 39, no. 7, viewed 19 April 2021, <https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0163443716686672>