Information Wars in the Baltic States

"Russia's malign influence in Europe isn't only visible in the military forces it has repeatedly sent across its neighbors borders. It is also evident in the information arena. This book shows how Russia has subverted media outlets, spreads disinformation, and promotes the Kremlin's geopolitical interests. This book is crucial for understanding contemporary information warfare, the threat Russia poses, and how the Baltic states are responding." -Chris Miller, Assistant Professor, The Fletcher School, Tufts University, USA

"This timely volume explores how information warfare in the Baltic states could be a precursor to armed conflict. It shows how Russian disinformation targets different Baltic media markets and tests the effectiveness that various organizations, including the 'elves' of Debunk EU, state broadcasters in Russian, and the information warfare experts at NATO have used to blunt its impact. Required reading for understanding the information 'battle space' in Europe." -Mitchell A. Orenstein, Professor of Russian and East European Studies, University of Pennsylvania, USA

"This book is an exceptionally timely collection of analyses from journalists, academics, military and media experts, all steeped in Russia's asymmetric information war." -Marco Werman, Journalist and Host of public radio's The World

This edited volume, featuring accomplished scholars, is about the information wars in the Baltic states, a battle that pits Russia against the West with Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as sites of contention for great power politics. Chapters address responses from titular populations, local Russian speakers, national governments, activists, journalists, and NATO, as well as the impact of Russian foreign policy on media.

Janis Chakars is Associate Professor of Communication and Digital Media at Neumann University, USA.

Indra Ekmanis is Baltic Sea Fellow and Editor of the Baltic Initiative at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, USA.

Autorentext

Janis Chakars is Associate Professor of Communication and Digital Media at Neumann University, USA.

Indra Ekmanis is Baltic Sea Fellow and Editor of the Baltic Initiative at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, USA.

Klappentext

This edited volume, featuring accomplished scholars, is about the information wars in the Baltic states, a battle that pits Russia against the West with Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as sites of contention for great power politics. Chapters address responses from titular populations, local Russian speakers, national governments, activists, journalists, and NATO as well as the impact of Russian foreign policy on media.

Inhalt

Chapter 1: Introduction: Echoes of the Past: Media and History in the Baltic Information Battlespace.- Part I: The Baltic States at the Center of Geopolitics and Hybrid Warfare.- The Baltic States and NATO's Response to Information Warfare Threats.- Chapter 2: Robotrolling in the Deep: How Inauthentic Accounts Amplify Kremlin Messaging in the Baltics.- Part II: Themes of the Information Wars in the Baltic States.- Chapter 3: History as Information Warfare on Twitter: The Case of the Forest Brothers.- Chapter 4: Marginalizing Gender and Sexual Minorities through Propaganda in the Baltic States.- Part III: Reactions to the Information Wars from Above and Below in the Baltic States.- Chapter 5: Silencing the Public: Instrumentalization of the 'Information Wars' by Political Elites.- Chapter 6: The Implications of Social Media Bots Designed to Imitate Genuine Online Participation in Lithuania and the Baltic States.- Chapter 7: Journalism and Citizen Activism in the Era of "Post-Truth": The Case of Demaskuok.lt.- Part IV: Public Media and Ethnic Diversity in the Age of Disinformation.- Chapter 9: Building Bridges: Estonian- and Russian-Speaking TV-audiences and the Value of Estonian Public Service Broadcasting in 2010-2020.- Chapter 10: Making Sense of Public Media in Times of Geopolitical Crisis: Latvian Public Media and Their Ethno-linguistic Majority and Minority Audiences.- Chapter 11: Strategic Frames: Russian Language and Latvian Television.- Chapter 12: Conclusion: Baltic Information Wars: Local Lessons, Global Implications.