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Synergetic disinformation

This video brought an interesting dynamic to my attention: There is a synergy between Russian and Western information operations and ensuing attempts to mitigate the perceived threat.

The greater the perceived threat of Russian propaganda targeting American or European audiences, the more the general paranoia increases (among neoliberal politicians, primarily, according to Lex Imperii) with more support for countermeasures such as fact checking organisations and censorship of Russian or pro-Russian media. As for the supposed Russian meddling in the 2016 US election, there is no evidence that the few ads on social media, many of which were quite ridiculous, had any effect on the few voters who got to see them. Nevertheless, Russiagate ensued with its paranoid repetition of the myth that this small campaign altered the outcome of an election. Impopular politicians blame their defeats on meddling, such as in the recent Romanian elections where the winning candidate was hastily disqualified because he migth be too friendly with Russia.

More recently, real information operations have concerned the war in Ukraine, in part through the so-called operation Doppelgänger, using fake web pages. I had not heard of it until watching this Lex Imperii video, and again, the operation may not have resulted in many views.

European politicians, holding on to power with meager popular support, make good use of the fear-mongering of an imminent invasion from the East, all the while Russia is paradoxically depicted as weak and about to collapse. Likewise, the impact of their online influence operations is blown out of proportion. Actually it doesn't matter whether anyone believes the Russian propaganda, as long as Western media, think tanks, and members of the censorial-industrial complex talks about it. Because the more they engage with it, the more the Russian information operations, mainly two private government funded companies, can take credit for the effects of their campaigns and ask for more funding. Similarly, the censorship-industrial complex with all its sprawling fact-checking organisations enjoy good times as long as anything that might qualify as disinformation can be found online. It's a vicious cycle of two opposing parties sustaining each other.