Countering Russian Propaganda in Eastern Europe

The RAND Corporation released a new publication looking at Russia's social media influence on former Soviet states. According to the authors, "The purpose of this project was to better understand the nature and effectiveness of pro-Russia outreach on social media and identify countermessaging opportunities."

This study focused on the scope of these campaigns and possibilities for countering, such as through media literacy training and the creation of counter-narratives. In their research, the authors came across a group of approximately 41,000 Twitter users posting pro-Russian propaganda, as well as a counterweight of 39,000 Ukrainians seeking to combat it.

The book Russian Social Media Influence: Understanding Russian Propaganda in Eastern Europe by Todd C. Helmus, Elizabeth Bodine-Baron, Andrew Radin, Madeline Magnuson, Joshua Mendelsohn, William Marcellino, Andriy Bega and Zev Winkelman is available here.