
In the age of fake news and sophisticated propaganda, the Balkans is first on the list of Russian targets, says researcher and expert on foreign interference and manipulation in information, Benjamin Shultz in an interview for The Geopost, in which he outlines the steps well done in combating misinformation.
It provides an analysis of the impact of Russian propaganda and disinformation in Europe and the United States. Emphasizing the different challenges these regions face, Shultz talks about the power of European legislation to combat manipulative content and the weaknesses that exist in the US, where he says the impact of disinformation has fueled a deep polarization in society.
He also talks about Russian efforts to enter the Balkan region and analyzes new interventions from other countries such as Iran and China in US election processes.
Full interview:
The Geopost: How do you see Russian disinformation and interferences in Europe?
Shultz: Well, you know, it’s, it’s fascinating to sort of compare and contrast the impacts of Russian disinformation in Europe and the US. In Europe, the institutions I think in combating it are a bit stronger.
You have the AI Act, the Digital Services Act and a number of other policies that have created an environment in which it is tougher for this content to stay up online, in which platforms have a bit more of a duty to take it down. And this is something that we don’t have in the US. So, in terms of Europe, a number of colleagues here today have said that there wasn’t really a huge impact on the European elections recently due to Russian disinformation.
It was there, but it didn’t change too much, which it’s an encouraging sign to hear that.
in the US we’ve seen a number of impacts on our politics, we’ve became very polarized and this issue of, Russian interference itself has become a political issue and it shouldn’t be.
This is a national security issue. This is something that affects all Americans, everybody.
America, specifically, it’s a very different environment than Europe, which Europe has been a bit more successful I think in in fighting it.
The Geopost: How do you see Russian propaganda and disinformation in the Balkan states?
Shultz: Like many countries in the post-Soviet space generally, the Balkans are first on the list of targets.
I think that, like the rest of Europe, the Balkans have made some good strides in combating it.
It’s very hard in the Balkans just generally to view RT or Sputnik, for instance, versus in the US, these networks are still very widely available. So that’s something encouraging in a number of Balkan countries. I think that living with the memory of occupation and communism is something that was a first-hand experience, just kind of Russian imperialism in general, but living with that first-hand experience is something that keeps people’s guard up, a bit more than us having just watched from afar, if that makes sense.
The Geopost: Everybody now is focused on the US elections; can you tell us about disinformation and interferences in US election? You said that there is disinformation coming from Russia, from Chinese and also, you said that Iran is very focused in US election.
Shultz: Well, like you say, there’s been a number of new actors here and so the Iranian influence operations that we’ve seen, I think volume wise compared to Russian Influence operations, it’s not as many, and the capabilities aren’t as advanced, however, compared to four years ago or eight years ago, we’re seeing a lot more Iranian influence.
There’s been a number of websites, fake websites, forgeries that have been designed to dupe Americans into believing false information. So, it’ll be a website that looks like the Washington Post, for instance, but it isn’t, and this is very much like Doppelganger, which is well-known influence operation that creates these forgeries, it’s attributed to the Kremlin.
We’ve seen things like this come from Iran as well now, which is a very interesting new development because this again was not the case four and eight years ago, so that’s one new player.
I think also domestically we’re seeing a lot more active far right and really far left mis information and disinformation coming to pass. Again, I think we’re more polarized than ever. So that’s also a new sort of development. Is how the polarization of the US is impacting, who’s amplifying false information.
The Geopost: Which is your message for organizations, journalists and media in Balkan. How to protect ourselves from disinformation?
Shultz: First thing is, media literacy, if you see something that gets you really angry, or if you see something that makes no sense, or something that makes perfect sense, too much sense even check, check it, Fact Check it yourself, look into the source, look at the URL to make sure that you’re on a real website.
Little things like this can make a difference in the lives of everyday people who are looking at information about the election, about whatever’s going on. Just double check everything and just keep your guard up online.
/The Geopost