Behind Russia’s Disinformation Operations in Belarus (reprint of translated article)
It might be worth our time to read this with our US election coming in November of this year.
Russian Disinformation Tactics Ongoing In Europe - translated from a polish article
Russia is changing tactics in its manipulation campaign to make it more difficult to expose. The head of the EU group fighting Russian disinformation, Dr. Martyna Bildziukiewicz, [@MBildziukiewicz ] told Polish Radio that after the attack on Ukraine, Moscow intensified its actions even more, but the goal remained the same - to quarrel the EU and raise doubts about EU support for Ukraine.
Russia is changing tactics in its disinformation campaign to make it more difficult to expose. Belarus is also getting into the game of manipulation operations in Poland, says the head of the EU group fighting Russian disinformation, the East Stratcom Task Force. Russia's disinformation campaigns are more difficult to detect - Russian disinformation has never been particularly sophisticated. What we have seen much more strongly in recent years is that Russia is able to specialize more, so, for example, campaigns are not planned on such a large scale as they were a few years ago before the elections to the German Bundestag or before the Brexit referendum. Now we are talking about campaigns that are much more localized, limited in scope to, for example, one or two social media, and thus it is much more difficult to detect such a campaign, said Martyna Bildziukiewicz. The second trend is an attempt by pro-Kremlin channels to impersonate credible international media such as the British The Guardian, the French Le Figaro or Le Monde, the German Bild, or the Italian Ansa.
- This technique means that we see, for example, a website or a channel on a given social media platform that looks like the medium we know and use. It looks practically the same. We may not notice when we click on a specific link that there is, for example, one letter different in the website address. Once we click, we are in the world of disinformation - explained Martyna Bildziukiewicz. "Belarusian channels started speaking Polish much more actively" Disinformation from Russia and Belarus is expected to intensify in the coming months, because elections to the European Parliament will be held in EU countries in June. Poland experienced a new attack during the last parliamentary elections. - For example, we observed Belarusian accounts linked to the Lukashenko regime that tried to discourage people from voting in October - said Martyna Bildziukiewicz, recalling a false bomb alert that Belarusian channels used to manipulate and try to convince Polish-speaking recipients that voting could be dangerous, downright life-threatening.
- And this campaign was not intended on a large scale and for thousands of recipients, but it actually took place and I also perceive it as a bit of testing new ground, because in general Belarusian channels have started speaking Polish much more actively in recent months - said Martyna Bildziukiewicz .
Read also: * The second anniversary of the outbreak of a full-scale war in Ukraine. European leaders confirm further aid for Kiev
She emphasized that everything must be checked carefully, preferably in several sources, to protect against Russian or Belarusian disinformation. - If a message arouses very strong, especially negative emotions in us, and at the same time it is disseminated by, for example, only one medium or one channel, this should raise our doubts - emphasized the head of the EU group for combating Russian disinformation.
***
The internet age has really complicated our lives. Perhaps in my older years my mental agility may be enhanced. Some days I’m only amazed at the weakness in man to use such a powerful tool for power and wealth as the above discussion points out. Thanks for reading.
Żegnajcie amerykańscy kowboje i kowbojki z Montany. [Goodbye American cowboys and cowgirls from Montana.]
170th Posting, February 25, 2024.