How Authoritarian States Shape Distorted Realities in News Feeds
Russia and China promote content portraying Western countries as chaotic, immoral, or simply strange. When disinformation is mentioned, we often think of obvious falsehoods or "fake news" spread by foreign governments. These actions sometimes aim to influence elections or create confusion during crises. However, this view oversimplifies the situation.
Authoritarian regimes like Russia and increasingly China conduct ongoing and broad campaigns to construct a biased political reality. Their goal is to subtly damage the image of Western democracies while presenting themselves and their authoritarian allies as the future.
This crafted reality involves outright falsehoods, but mostly relies on more subtle manipulation. Positive information is exaggerated disproportionately, while inconvenient facts are ignored or distorted to fit the desired narrative.
The Kremlin has long used state-controlled media, proxy outlets, and bots to consistently spread stories—news articles, tweets, videos, and social media posts—that aim to influence and polarize political debates in democratic countries.
"Reports show that these stories can reach audiences far beyond their original Russian outlets."
Author's summary: Authoritarian states use subtle but extensive manipulation of news content to undermine Western democracies and promote their own political agendas as superior alternatives.