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-
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Andrew Higgins, Effort to Expose Russia’s Troll Army Draws Vicious Retaliation
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