GEC Special Report: Pillars of Russia’s #Disinformation and Propaganda Ecosystem

Thread.

(For more details, the full report is available for download at the link below:) https://www.state.gov/russias-pillars-of-disinformation-and-propaganda-report/

1/ Part of the Department of State, the GEC is the U.S. Government's dedicated center for countering foreign propaganda.

This report provides an overview of Russia’s disinformation tactics to heighten awareness and aid those who are committed to countering these malign efforts.

2/ By exposing Russia's tactics, allies in this fight can conduct further analysis and thereby increase collective resilience to disinformation and propaganda.

In line with that goal, this report provides an overview of Russia's disinformation and propaganda ecosystem.

3/ Russia’s disinformation and propaganda ecosystem consists of five main pillars:

PI - - Official Communications
PII - - State-Funded Media
PIII - - Proxy Sources
PIV - - Weaponization of Social Media
PV - - Cyber-Enabled Disinformation

4/ Pillar I - - Official Communications

Kremlin or Ministry statement
Official Russian social media post
Statement or quote by senior Russian official
Connection to Russia: Visible

5/ Pillar II - - State-Funded Media

State-funded, foreign-facing media
State-funded, domestic-facing media
Foreign-based, Russian state-funded media
International Russian socio-cultural institutions
Connection to Russia: Somewhat Visible

6/ Pillar III - - Proxy Sources

Russia-aligned outlets with global reach
Local language-specific outlets
Witting proliferators of Russian narratives
Unwitting proliferators of Russian narratives
Foreign state narrative amplification
Connection to Russia: Obscured

7/ Pillar IV - - Weaponization of Social Media

Infiltration of domestic conversations
Standing campaigns to inflame domestic discord and undermine faith in institutions
Amplification of protests or civil discord
Connection to Russia: Somewhat Denied

8/ Pillar V - - Cyber-Enabled Disinformation

Hack & Release
Site capture
Cloned websites
Forgeries
Disruption of official sources or objective media
Connection to Russia: Denied

9/ To demonstrate the way this ecosystem works to amplify false narratives, the GEC included a case study around the fabricated claim that COVID-19 is a US bioweapon.

Thread. https://twitter.com/ContextFall/status/1295229248005976067?s=19

10/ The Kremlin invests massively in outlets that masquerade as news sites to spread false narratives.

Some of these "Proxy Sources" are profiled here.

Thread. https://twitter.com/ContextFall/status/1295228903628382209?s=19

12/ Commonly referred to as "Active Measures", these political warfare methods utilize propaganda to add aggression into the national discourse.

We increase resiliency to these techniques through recognition and understanding, which is why this report is so important.

13/ Studies have shown that "Troll Farm" posts exhibited engagement which was significantly higher than platform benchmarks.

They also found these operations grew more and more effective over time.

Recognition builds resiliency. This threat is serious, please consider sharing.