State, media and civil society in the information warfare over Ukraine: citizen curators of digital disinformation
Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › fagfællebedømt
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State, media and civil society in the information warfare over Ukraine : citizen curators of digital disinformation. / Golovchenko, Yevgeniy; Hartmann, Mareike; Adler-Nissen, Rebecca.
I: International Affairs, Bind 95, Nr. 5, 2018, s. 975-994.Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › fagfællebedømt
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TY - JOUR
T1 - State, media and civil society in the information warfare over Ukraine
T2 - citizen curators of digital disinformation
AU - Golovchenko, Yevgeniy
AU - Hartmann, Mareike
AU - Adler-Nissen, Rebecca
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - This article explores the dynamics of digital (dis)information in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. International Relations scholars have presented the online debate in terms of ‘information warfare’—that is, a number of strategic campaigns to win over local and global public opinion, largely orchestrated by the Kremlin and pro-western authorities. However, this way of describing the online debate reduces civil society to a mere target for manipulation. This article presents a different understanding of the debate. By examining the social media engagement generated by one of the conflict's most important events—the downing of the Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) over Ukraine—we explore how competing claims about the cause of the plane crash are disseminated by the state, media and civil society. By analysing approximately 950,000 tweets, the article demonstrates how individual citizens are more than purveyors of government messages; they are the most active drivers of both disinformation and attempts to counter such information. These citizen curators actively shape competing narratives about why MH17 crashed and citizens, as a group, are four times more likely to be retweeted than any other type of user. Our findings challenge conceptualizations of a state-orchestrated information war over Ukraine, and point to the importance of citizen activity in the struggle over truths during international conflicts.
AB - This article explores the dynamics of digital (dis)information in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. International Relations scholars have presented the online debate in terms of ‘information warfare’—that is, a number of strategic campaigns to win over local and global public opinion, largely orchestrated by the Kremlin and pro-western authorities. However, this way of describing the online debate reduces civil society to a mere target for manipulation. This article presents a different understanding of the debate. By examining the social media engagement generated by one of the conflict's most important events—the downing of the Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) over Ukraine—we explore how competing claims about the cause of the plane crash are disseminated by the state, media and civil society. By analysing approximately 950,000 tweets, the article demonstrates how individual citizens are more than purveyors of government messages; they are the most active drivers of both disinformation and attempts to counter such information. These citizen curators actively shape competing narratives about why MH17 crashed and citizens, as a group, are four times more likely to be retweeted than any other type of user. Our findings challenge conceptualizations of a state-orchestrated information war over Ukraine, and point to the importance of citizen activity in the struggle over truths during international conflicts.
KW - Faculty of Social Sciences
KW - misinformation
KW - Social Media
KW - Twitter
KW - MH17
KW - Ukraine
KW - Russia
KW - Information warfare
KW - fake news
KW - Social network analysis
KW - international conflict
KW - citizens
KW - civil society
KW - disinformation
KW - Digital Data
KW - social data science
KW - digital computational science
U2 - 10.1093/ia/iiy148
DO - 10.1093/ia/iiy148
M3 - Journal article
VL - 95
SP - 975
EP - 994
JO - International Affairs
JF - International Affairs
SN - 0020-5850
IS - 5
ER -
ID: 202383315