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Measuring the scope of pro-Kremlin disinformation on Twitter

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  • Yevgeniy Golovchenko

    (University of Copenhagen)

Abstract

This article examines the scope of pro-Kremlin disinformation about Crimea. I deploy content analysis and a social network approach to analyze tweets related to the region. I find that pro-Kremlin disinformation partially penetrated the Twitter debates about Crimea. However, these disinformation narratives are accompanied by a much larger wave of information that disagrees with the disinformation and are less prevalent in relative terms. The impact of Russian state-controlled news outlets—which are frequent sources of pro-Kremlin disinformation—is concentrated in one, highly popular news outlet, RT. The few, popular Russian news media have to compete with many popular Western media outlets. As a result, the combined impact of Russian state-controlled outlets is relatively low when comparing to its Western alternatives.

Suggested Citation

  • Yevgeniy Golovchenko, 2020. "Measuring the scope of pro-Kremlin disinformation on Twitter," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 7(1), pages 1-11, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:7:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-020-00659-9
    DOI: 10.1057/s41599-020-00659-9
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