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45.00 €

Free Speech and Censorship around the Globe

Author(s): / Language(s): English

Free Speech and Censorship around the Globe contains stories about how imagination and rational thinking in wildly different cultures capture, imagine, and conceptualize what freedom of speech means. This book treats the reader not as a tourist, but as a traveler. It does not stop at every famous tourist site that have been the most visited. Instead, it goes up many side streets. It provides an opportunity for curious people who would like to understand whether free speech can be contextual to take a journey of exploration. It draws a map of the concepts and contexts of free speech in the second decade of the 21st century. 1989 and 2011 are only two recent turning points when freedom of speech and freedom of the press emerged, or at least powerful efforts were made to support their emergence, although disheartening backlashes followed in several countries. The book also tells many other free speech narratives that emerged, or evolved outside the frames of 1989 and 2011, also with several troublesome repercussions. Reborn restrictions to free speech—as have taken place, for example, in some Central European and East European countries, such as the backlash in Hungary that received broad international attention—make the critical assessments presented in this volume especially timely. Comparative studies must help to avoid such backwards steps and to create enabling environments needed by any culture in order to develop and sustain the spirit and practices of freedom of speech.

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The Neopopular Bubble. Speculating on "the People" in Late Modern Democracy

Author(s): Péter Csigó / Language(s): English

The common critique of media- and ratings-driven politics envisions democracy falling hostage to a popularity contest. By contrast, the following book reconceives politics as a speculative Keynesian beauty contest that alienates itself from the popular audience it ceaselessly targets. Political actors unknowingly lean on collective beliefs about the popular expectations they seek to gratify, and thus do not follow popular public opinion as it is, but popular public opinion about popular public opinion.This book unravels how collective discourses on “the popular” have taken the role of intermediary between political elites and electorates. The shift has been driven by the idea of “liquid control:” that postindustrial electorates should be reached through flexibly designed media campaigns based on a complete understanding of their media-immersed lives. Such a complex representation of popular electorates, actors have believed, cannot be secured by rigid bureaucratic parties, but has to be distilled from the collective wisdom of the crowd of consultants, pollsters, journalists and pundits commenting on the political process.The mediatization of political representation has run a strikingly similar trajectory to the marketization of capital allocation in finance: starting from a rejection of bureaucratic control, promising a more “liquid” alternative, attempting to detect a collective wisdom (of/about “the markets” and “the people”), and ending up in self-driven spirals of collective speculation.

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Govor mržnje i nasilje prema Srbima u 2015.

Author(s): Tamara Opačić / Language(s): English,Croatian

The year behind us was marked by an increased number of physical assaults on Serbs in Croatia, threats against them and destruction of their property. In 2015 Cyrillic script1 in Vukovar was practically abolished and we have witnessed numerous attempts to rehabilitate the Independent State of Croatia (NDH)2 as well as an increased incidence of hate speech by public figures and part of the media. For this reason 2015 will be remembered as the year in which nationalist and anti-minority atmosphere – which became more intense since Croatia’s accession to the European Union in 2013 – has reached a worrying scale.

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Between Anarchy and Censorship. Public discourse and the duties of social media

Author(s): Judit Bayer / Language(s): English

Social media platforms have become powerful enough to cause perceptible effects in societies on a global scale. They facilitate public discussion, and they work with excessive amounts of personal data – both activities affecting human rights and the rule of law. This specific service requires attention from the regulator: according to this paper, a new legal category should be created with clear definitions, and a firm delineation of platforms’ rights and responsibilities. Social media companies should not become responsible for third-party content, as this would lead to over-censorship, but they should have the obligation to create and maintain safe and secure platforms, on which human rights and the rule of law are respected.

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Between overt disinformation and covert practice. The Russian special services’ game

Author(s): Jolanta Darczewska / Language(s): English

It is generally believed that one sign that the secret services are doing their job well is that the media says nothing about them. In this respect, Russia is a special case: the services receive an excess of media coverage. This is only partly due to the media’s natural interest in an attractive subject, as well as the services’ own selfpromotion (although that is increasingly true around the world). In fact, it is a symptom of Russia’s information warfare, in which the special services’ public image is just one block in building the appearance of a strong state and a strong government. It also justifies and legitimises the high position which the services and elite members of the institutions of force enjoy in the Russian Federation’s political system. However, this artificial, mythologised image of the services conflicts with their non-public practices. These are revealed when their cover is blown, when journalists investigate criminal scandals involving the services, when controlled and uncontrolled leaks of compromising information take place, and when the opposition publicises cases where the special services violate fundamental rights and civil liberties – something they often do under the pretext of fighting the ‘fifth column’ of the West, international terrorists and foreign spies. This produces two different images of the services: the official one and the common one. The former presents the services as professional, patriotic and a stronghold of traditional values, Russia’s ‘sword and shield’; the latter shows them as pampered by the regime, lawless, corrupt and undisciplined, involved in brutal competition with one another, bureaucratised and criminalised.

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Między jawną dezinformacją a niejawną praktyką. Gry rosyjskich służb

Author(s): Jolanta Darczewska / Language(s): Polish

Zgodnie z powszechnym przekonaniem o skuteczności służb specjalnych świadczy cisza medialna. Pod tym względem Rosja jest przypadkiem szczególnym: temat służb jest tu eksploatowany ponad miarę. Tylko w niewielkim stopniu wynika to z naturalnego zainteresowania mediów atrakcyjną problematyką, a także coraz szerzej praktykowanej na świecie autopromocji służb. Przede wszystkim jest to efektem prowadzonej przez Rosję walki informacyjnej: wizerunek służb jest częścią wizerunku silnego państwa i silnych rządów. Uzasadnia ponadto i legitymizuje wysoką pozycję instytucjonalną służb i elit siłowych w systemie politycznym Federacji Rosyjskiej. Sztucznie wykreowany, zmitologizowany obraz służb wchodzi w kolizję z ich niepubliczną praktyką, ujawnianą w rezultacie dekonspiracji działań, śledztw dziennikarskich na temat afer kryminalnych z ich udziałem, dyskredytujących je przecieków kontrolowanych i niekontrolowanych, a także nagłaśnianych przez opozycję przypadków ingerencji służb w podstawowe prawa i wolności obywatelskie pod pretekstem walki z piątą kolumną Zachodu, międzynarodowymi terrorystami i obcymi szpiegami. Efektem tego są dwa wizerunki służb: oficjalny i potoczny. Są one przedstawiane z jednej strony jako profesjonalne, patriotyczne, będące matecznikiem wartości tradycyjnych, tarczą i mieczem Rosji, z drugiej zaś – jako rozpieszczane przez reżim, działające ponad prawem, przekupne i niezdyscyplinowane, prowadzące ostrą walkę konkurencyjną między sobą, zbiurokratyzowane i skryminalizowane.

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FALLING BEHIND: HOW SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANIES ARE FAILING TO COMBAT INAUTHENTIC BEHAVIOUR ONLINE

Author(s): Sebastian Bay,Rolf Fredheim / Language(s): English

From the 2014 invasion of Ukraine to more recent attempts to interfere in democratic elections, antagonists seeking to influence their adversaries have turned to social media manipulation. At the heart of this practice is a flourishing market dominated by Manipulation Service Providers (MSPs) based in Russia. Buyers range from individuals to companies to state-level actors. Typically, these service providers sell social media engagement in the form of comments, clicks, likes, and shares. Since its foundation, the NATO Strategic Communication Centre of Excellence in Riga has studied social media manipulation as an important and integral part of the influence campaigns malicious state and non-state actors direct against the Alliance and its partners.

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DISINFORMATION AS A GLOBAL PROBLEM – REGIONAL PERSPECTIVES

Author(s): Rachael Lim / Language(s): English

This research project discusses disinformation in the European Union (EU) and Southeast Asia (SEA). The report examines the characterisation and context of disinformation, provides an overview of its creators and its circulation, where creation refers to production and its underlying motivations and circulation refers to the different ways it is disseminated, amplified and sustained, and rounds up with a discussion on foreseeable trends. It finds that disinformation is ultimately a national security problem, and any assessment of, and response to, disinformation must be formulated with developments in other domains.

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Russia’s Activities in Africa’s Information Environment. Case Studies: Mali and Central African Republic

Author(s): Karel Svoboda,Paula-Charlotte Matlach,Zack Baddorf / Language(s): English

This paper focuses on Russia’s strategies in Africa. The first ever Russia-Africa summit, co-hosted in October 2019 by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi in Sochi, was presented by both Russian and international media as a milestone in Russia’s return to the African continent. Leaders and delegations of the vast majority of African states met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and other Russian representatives to discuss possible projects of cooperation between their respective countries. The summit ranked among the largest of recent Africa-partner summits (EU-Africa, China-Africa, US-Africa, and Japan-Africa). For example, Russia was able to welcome more state delegations than the US at their summit. The declared initiatives of cooperation appeared impressive, ranging from nuclear energy, oil and gas, to automobile production and financial loans for various fields. This meeting sparked numerous claims by both Western and Russian media that Russia is a key player in the region. There are plans for organizing another summit in 2022.

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Abuse of Power: Coordinated Online Harassment of Finnish Government Ministers

Author(s): Kristina Van Sant,Rolf Fredheim,Gundars Bergmanis-Korats / Language(s): English

This report is an explorative analysis of abusive messages targeting Finnish ministers on the social media platform Twitter. The purpose of this study is to understand the scope of politically motivated abusive language on Finnish Twitter, and to determine if, and to what extent, it is perpetrated by inauthentic accounts. To this end, we developed a mixed methodology, combining AI-driven quantitative visualisations of the networks delivering messages of abuse with a qualitative analysis of the messages in order to understand the themes and triggers of abusive activity. We collected Twitter data between 12 March and 27 July 2020, a period spanning the state of emergency declared in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This report is informed by the findings of three recent Finnish studies, one of which investigated the extent and effects of online hate speech against politicians while the other two studied the use of bots to influence political discourse during the 2019 Finnish parliamentary elections.

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Falsification of History as a Tool of Influence

Author(s): / Language(s): English

This study deals with the growing trend of Russia’s use of historical propaganda to further its foreign policy goals. It contains chapters written by experts in the field in the respective countries of Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Poland. The methodological aspects of the project were discussed in detail during a seminar in Riga on 11 December 2018. It was agreed that, for the integrity of the compendium, at least the central theme should be commonly understood as Jowett and O’Donnell conceptualise it: propaganda is a deliberate and systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and direct behaviour to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist. Its systematic nature requires the longitudinal study of its progress. Because the essence of propaganda is its deliberateness of purpose, considerable investigation is required to find out what this purpose is.

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Chinese Arctic Narratives: How Chinese Media is Approaching the Nordic-Arctic States

Author(s): Viesturs Bērziņš / Language(s): English

The world we live in is constantly changing. As Heraclitus once famously stated: ‘The only thing constant is change itself’. History has shown us that certain geographical regions can suddenly become the centre of attention. A territory that has caught international attention recently is the Arctic. A frozen, fairly untamed area that is mostly known for glaciers, polar bears, and endless wilderness is starting to emerge as a centrepiece of the global agenda. Minerals, vast waters for fishing and shipping, as well as strategic importance are some of the Arctic’s key points of attraction. Many states have expressed interest in extending their reach and developments in the Arctic. Yet, one of the states that is actively participating in Arctic endeavours is attracting more scholarly attention than the others – China. Not only is it located nearly 1500 kilometres away from the Arctic Circle, it also has one of the fastest growing economies in the world. This has led some experts to wonder whether it is possible for Arctic states to remain in complete control of the contested region. China’s interest in the region has resulted in it becoming one of thirteen observer states of the Arctic Council. The organisation can be considered the de facto most important intergovernmental forum for Arctic affairs.

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Disinformation in Democracies: Improving Societal Resilience to Disinformation

Author(s): Jon Hassain / Language(s): English

The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in an array of counter-disinformation communication challenges. In response to this, individuals, governments, civil society, and commercial actors have adapted and evolved their own communications to provide us with tools to fight this ‘infodemic’. This report shares examples of innovative solutions, and hopes to encourage readers to think differently about their own communication challenges. Seven case studies have been selected and described as concisely as possible. Think inspirational coffee table book as opposed to a lengthy academic tome. Case studies presented in this article are notable not only for the interventions themselves, but how their underlying policies and conceptual frameworks allowed them to come to fruition. For example, the Finnish case study, a collaborative social media campaign, demonstrates how government policy can enable a whole-of-society approach to psychological resilience.

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Russian Civilian Outreach and Information Operations in Syria

Author(s): Jan Daniel,Dominik Presl / Language(s): English

The large-scale Russian military intervention in Syria entered its seventh year in 2021. Major military operations seem to be halted for now and the Syrian government, together with its allies, has been able to reconquer significant portions of the country’s territory. Nevertheless, the Syrian territory continues to be fragmented and the Syrian government faces a wide range of challenges, from the collapsing economy to simmering local opposition in certain regions. Russian involvement in the conflict, and in the country more broadly, is far from over and it is still requested by the Syrian regime. Even though Russia might be involved in various power-struggles inside the Syrian governmental apparatus and economic structures and there are several important differences between Russian and Syrian visions of the future political development, the dependence of the Syrian government on Russian support means that its presence in the country is, thus far, secured.

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ZAPAD 2021 Communication analysis: messages, narratives, (dis)information

Author(s): Valeriy Akimenko,Daivis Petraitis,Viktoras Daukšas,Balys Liubinavičius / Language(s): English

On 10-16 September 2021, Russia conducted the formal part of ZAPAD 2021, one in a cycle of annual military exercises which represent the culmination of training by the Russian Federation Armed Forces in a given year. As ‘Zapad’ (the Russian word for ‘west’) suggests, the exercise is centred on what Russia calls the Western strategic sector or ‘direction’. ZAPAD 2021 included Belarus. Accordingly, it was termed ‘a joint strategic exercise’, primarily to emphasise the participation of Belarus as well as that of the Russia-controlled Collective Security Treaty Organisation. ZAPAD 2021 was preceded by weeks of preparatory and associated exercises, and, as repeatedly emphasised by Russia, involved as many as 200,000 troops, drawn predominantly from Russia. ZAPAD 2021 included a powerful communication campaign in the form of messages and narratives, which this study identifies, explores, and explains. This study consists of two separate but interconnected parts: Part I looks at the exercise from the perspective of what the exercise signalled, both explicitly and implicitly. It deconstructs and groups these messages and narratives.

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Russia's Footprint in the Western Balkan Information Environment: Susceptibility to Russian Influence

Author(s): Sanda Svetoka / Language(s): English

Since 2019 the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence (StratCom COE) has been analysing Russia’s influence in the information environment of the Western Balkans (WB). This report is the final piece of the project. It summarises the findings of the previous reports and then goes on to explore and assess the perceptions and attitudes of WB populations with regard to Russian influence activities in the WB media space. In 2020, the NATO StratCom COE published four reports investigating Russia’s tools of influence in the WBs, focusing primarily on the media landscape. Within the framework of the project Russia’s Footprint in the Western Balkan Information Environment, researchers analysed Russia’s interests in the area and its influence toolbox, and identified the vulnerabilities that make the Western Balkan countries susceptible to external manipulation. The project also identified narratives promoted by the Kremlin regarding the WBs and examined the role of local WB media in spreading those narratives. The project researchers have concluded that the Western Balkan region is not in Russia’s immediate sphere of interest; however, the Russian government considers the region a useful and easily accessible arena in which to undermine the EU and NATO. Structural vulnerabilities and societal and political divisions are exploited through cost-effective methods such as information campaigns, influencing local politicians, or even subversive activities such as hampering unity in Montenegro as it was moving toward NATO membership.

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Russian Media Landscape: Structures, Mechanisms, and Technologies of Information Operations

Author(s): Andrey Kuzichkin,Monika Izandra Hanley / Language(s): English

Various reports that have been published by the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence contain detailed analyses of Russian information influence activities, focusing mainly on technology and software. The present study contains a brief analysis of the political, financial, and legislative influence brought to bear on the Russian media environment, making it possible for the Kremlin to influence opinion domestically and to conduct special media operations against Western countries and their allies. This report is devoted to deep aspects of Russian information influence activities that have rarely been the subject of detailed studies. It is an analysis of the structure created by the Russian state to control the flow of information in the paradigm of a ‘hybrid war’ against democratic countries. The paper is presented in three parts: In the section MECHANISMS of STATE CONTROL over the MEDIA in RUSSIA, we show how control over the Russian media space has been consolidated into the hands of a few powerful individuals through transfer of ownership and mandated changes, and provide data on mergers and acquisitions involving Russia’s largest media assets and their subordination to the state. We examine the mechanisms of political influence on information producers by means of nonprofit structures and a system of personnel appointments. We provide data on state financing of Russia’s information policy at the federal and regional levels. We discuss examples of the involvement of Russian special services in state information policy, drawing on the experience of the author and on academic research.

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Strategic Communications Hybrid Threats Toolkit - Applying the principles of NATO Strategic Communications to understand and counter grey zone threats

Author(s): Monika Gill,Pia Hansen / Language(s): English

This research is for people who want to develop their understanding of dangers to national security that come under the umbrella of ‘hybrid threats’. Such threats involve a combination of different hostile measures, furthering an adversary’s strategic goals while occuring in the ‘grey zone’ which exists between peace, crisis and war. The report builds on our publication Hybrid Threats - A Strategic Communications perspective, which analysed 30 scenarios featuring hybrid activities by state actors. Data from the case studies is exploited further, deepening our understanding of hybrid threats and how they might be countered by applying the principles of NATO Strategic Communications. It aims to help the reader develop ways of looking at hybrid threats and then to appreciate how the Strategic Communications process might be applied at the national level. This involves understanding the information environment, then developing a plan which provides coherence to the various instruments a nation can use to leverage strategic influence. Strategic Communications is a realm which suffers from a divergence of definitional interpretations. While NATO Strategic Communications has arguably come of age, there is understandably a lack of commonality across the NATO nations as to how the term is used. Popular usage has Strategic Communications simply as being highly effective at what an organisation says. This confines communication to a narrow arena. Our report builds on NATO’s approach to Strategic Communications - a mindset or philosophy which is underpinned by process and supported by capabilities. When applied at the national level it provides a function of basic statecraft at the intersection of strategy and action.

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National Leader Heydar Aliyev in the 100th Anniversary: Investigation in the Context of Turkey-Azerbaijan Relations

Author(s): / Language(s): Turkish,English,Azerbaijani

Tarixin ixtiyarı dövrlərində hər bir xalqın tarixi taleyində şəxsiyyətlərin, liderlərin rolu əvəzsizdir. Azərbaycan xalqının tarixi talehinin XX yüzilin son 30 ilinə və XXI yüzilin əvvəlinə təsadüf edən tarixi və taleyi ümummilli lider Heydər Əliyev şəxsiyyəti və onun əzəmətli ideyaları üzərində qərar tutur. Türkiyə - Azərbaycan dostluğunun-qardaşlığının tarixi kökləri, mədəni bağlarının tarixi qədimdir. Azərbaycan ikinci dəfə öz müstəqilliyini bərpa etdikdən sonra, xüsusilə Heydər Əliyevin 1993-cü ilin iyununda ikinci dəfə siyasi hakimiyyətə qayıdışından sonra Azərbaycanın beynəlxalq münasibətlər sistemində özünəməxsus yer tutmasında və dünya siyasi proseslərinə inteqrasiyasında balanslaşdırılmış, düşünülmüş bir sistem formalaşdırıldı. Türkiyə Cümhuriyyəti ilə münasibətlərin daha yüksək səviyyədə və etibarlı təməllər üzərində qurulmasına çox böyük önəm verməsi idi. Heydər Əliyev ölkəmizin Türkiyə ilə münasibətlərə necə böyük önəm verdiyini ilk günlərdən bəyan edərək deyirdi ki, bizim ölkəmiz-Türkiyə Cümhuriyyəti və Azərbaycan Respublikası dost-qardaş ölkələridir. Xalqlarımızın birliyi, qardaşlığı və dostluğu əsrlərdən- əsrlərə keçərkən formalaşmış və yeni mərhələsinə çatmışdır. Həm XX yüzilin əvvəllərində həm də sonunda Azərbaycanın müstəqilliyini ilk dəfə Türkiyə tanımışdır. Böyük öndər Mustafa Kamal Atatürkün: “Azərbaycanın sevincisevincimiz, kədəri- kədərimizdir”. Ulu öndər Heydər Əliyevin: “Bir millət, iki dövlət” tezisləri milli-mənəvi dəyərlərimizin tarixən, ortaqlığını, xalqlarımızın mədəniyyətinin, incəsənətinin, musiqisinin, bütövlükdə mənəvi dünyasının bir-biri ilə təbii tarixi qarşılıqlı əlaqədə olduğunu da əks etdirir. Müstəqil dövlətçiliyimizi möhkəm dayaqlar üzərində qurub yaratmaqla yanaşı, Heydər Əliyev azərbaycançılıq ideyasını da dövlətçilik müstəvisinə gətirib onu milli məfkurəyə çevirdi. Qeyd edək ki, Heydər Əliyevin irəli sürdüyü azərbaycançılıq məfkurəsi heç də ümumtürk mənsubiyyətini inkar etmirdi, əksinə türkçülüyün müxtəlif coğrafi-siyasi mənalarda özünəməxsus milli formada, vətən və milli dövlət müstəvisində yeni mənzərəsini ortaya qoyurdu. Hal-hazırda Azərbaycan Respublikası ilə Türkiyə Cümhuriyyəti arasında əsası Ulu Öndər Heydər Əliyev tərəfindən qoyulmuş qardaşlıq münasibətləri özünün ən yüksək mərhələsindədir. Bu isə Prezident İlham Əliyevin və Türkiyə Cümhuriyyətinin prezidenti Rəcəb Tayyib Ərdoğanın müdrik və uzaqgörən siyasətinin birbaşa nəticəsidir. Azərbaycan ikinci Qarabağ savaşında da qardaş Türkiyənin mənəvi dəstəyini heç bir zaman unutmayacaq. Azərbaycan-Türkiyə münasibətləri zamanın çətin sınaqlarından keçərək, öz doğruluğunu, zəruriliyini, gərəkliyini, perspektivliyini, həyatiliyini nümayiş etdirməklə etnik kökləri, dili və mənəviyyatı, adət-ənənələri bir olan xalqlarımızın birliyinin və birlikdə inkişaf və tərəqqisinin təməl daşıdır. Ulu öndərin hər zaman qeyd etdiyi, Azərbaycan-Türkiyə dostluğu və qardaşlığı sarsılmazdır, əbədidir və xalqlarımızın qarşılıqlı inkişafı və tərəqqisinin hərəkətverici qüvvəsidir. Bu toplunun hazırlanmasının təşəbbüskarları, kitabda yazısı olan həmkarlarımızın da əməyi yüksək dəyərləndirilməlidir.

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Seeking Legitimacy: Considerations for Strategic Communications in the Digital Age

Author(s): Emily Harding,Harshana Ghoorhoo,Julia Dickson / Language(s): English

While the Soviet Union in particular developed well-honed strategies for propaganda during the Cold War, the last ten years have seen an explosion in the speed and reach of a new breed of disinformation. Messages now travel far and wide on social media at the speed of thought, as people look to Twitter and TikTok for news. Governments find themselves attempting to sort out which stories will pass and which stories will stick, as they struggle to bet limited resources against emerging problems. Democracies are particularly vulnerable to disinformation because laws are designed to protect free speech, not to protect the state from speech. Propaganda spreads easily across borders in the digital age. One recently uncovered web portal served multiple potential sympathizers in several languages; it provided pro-Kremlin activists from many countries with templates for letters opposing the destruction of Soviet monuments, including offers to help write and translate the letters into English and French. By one estimate, dozens of well-crafted pieces of pro-Kremlin disinformation appear every week—more than any country can handle alone.

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