Committee print
Download 0.63 Mb. View original pdf
|
| cies & Intentions Toward Specific European Countries, Hearing before the US. Senate Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, Marat. Lessons Learned • Public Reporting of Intelligence Findings is Effective Exposing and publicizing the nature of the threat of Russian malign influence activities can bean action-forcing event that not only boosts public awareness, but also drives effective responses from the private sector, especially social media platforms, as well as civil society and independent media, who can use the information to pursue their own investigations. • Strong Cyber Defenses are Critical Estonia was one of the first states to experience cyberwar operations, and the Baltic states are under constant threat from Russia-based hackers. Strong cyber defenses are therefore key to building resilience against the Kremlin’s influence operations. The United States can assist the Baltic states to improve their cyber defenses against malicious hacking by Kremlin-sponsored entities. One method would be to work with the EU to train and support emergency cyber response teams that can be immediately deployed to assist allies that are under cyberattack from malicious state or non-state actors. The United States can also learn from Estonia s experience in dealing with cyberattacks on critical infrastructure targets, including the energy grid and electoral systems Cultural Exports & Exchanges Can Enhance Resilience To assist the Baltics, Lithuania’s ambassador to the United States believes that more American popular culture in Lithuania would help neutralize the Kremlin’s active measures. Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty programs are increasingly well-known in the Baltics, and combining popular entertainment programming with respected and independent news reporting would further their reach and influence. Lithuania s ambassador has also called for more and better-funded cultural exchange programs, including study abroad and journalist training. These measures should be supported by the US. government. 609 VerDate Mar 15 2010 04:06 Jan 09, 2018 Jkt PO 00000 Frm 00114 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6601 S:\FULL COMMITTEE\HEARING FILES\COMMITTEE PRINT 2018\HENRY\JAN. 9 REPORT FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER 109 No, Denmark is Not Legalising Sexual Abuse of Animals EU vs. Disinfo, Sept. 9, 2017. How EU Members View Russia Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, https://www.rferl.org/ a/28200070.html (visited Dec. 31, 2017) (citing Special Eurobarometer Future of Europe, Oct. 2016). Esteban Ortiz-Ospina & Max Roser, Trust Our World in Data, https:// ourworldindata.org/trust#note-2 (visited Dec. 31, 2017); Transparency International, Corruption Perceptions Index 2016, (Jan. 25, 2017). European External Action Service, Disinformation Digest Mar. 18, 2016. NORDIC STATES DENMARK, FINLAND, NORWAY, AND SWEDEN When it comes to asserting that the West is in a state of moral decline, a favorite target of the Kremlin’s propaganda machine are the Nordic states of Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway—all members of the EU, and the latter two also members of NATO. For example, in 2017, one of Russia’s largest TV stations broadcast a story that claimed Denmark’s government had permitted the opening of an animal brothel in Copenhagen. The story, which included an image of a dog dressed up as a street prostitute, evolved in classic ping pong fashion, moving from a fringe online publication before being picked up in periphery countries like Belarus and Georgia and several marginal Russian media outlets. Ironically, this false report had first been published as just that—the original source was a satirical French website that posted the story as par- ody. 610 But when it comes to exhibiting strong immunity against Russian malign influence operations, the Nordic states are also exemplary. Several factors contribute to their resilience. First, Russia’s favorability ratings among the populations of the Nordic countries are lower than anywhere else in the EU. 611 In addition, the Nordic states have extraordinary educational systems that emphasize critical thinking skills, as well as relatively high levels of interpersonal trust and extremely low levels of corruption (of the 176 countries ranked in Transparency International’s 2016 corruption index, all four Nordic countries ranked within the six least corrupt coun- tries). 612 While correlation does not prove causation, it would not be surprising if the absence of Russian corrupt influences, as well as strong critical thinking skills that inoculate against the effects of disinformation, are major contributing factors to the low opinion of Russia held among Nordic populations. In addition, the Nordic states have dealt with Moscow’s aggression for decades, and their populations arguably have a builtin skepticism of and resistance to the Kremlin’s disinformation campaigns and other malign influence operations. Due to these factors, the Kremlin’s traditional propaganda operations have had very little success in the Nordic countries. Sputnik closed its Danish, Finnish, Swedish, and Norwegian language services in 2016. Some analysts attributed the withdrawal to economic conditions in Russia, while others attributed it to the poor performance of outlets, which had poor command of the Nordic languages and found that conspiracy theories and attacks on European values did not have much traction among Nordic audiences. 613 With the disappearance of traditional propaganda outlets, internet trolls are now the primary pro-Russia disinformation actors in Nordic countries, and they primarily focus on individual targets. Russia-affiliated activists have gone to great lengths to intimidate journalists who report on Russia, especially those carrying out in- VerDate Mar 15 2010 04:06 Jan 09, 2018 Jkt PO 00000 Frm 00115 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6601 S:\FULL COMMITTEE\HEARING FILES\COMMITTEE PRINT 2018\HENRY\JAN. 9 REPORT FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER 110 Andrew Higgins, Effort to Expose Russia’s Troll Army Draws Vicious Retaliation The Download 0.63 Mb. Share with your friends:
|