Rysk informationspåverkan som varaktigt hot

Abstract

Russian information influence as an enduring threat

On February 27 2022, the EU announced that it would ban the Russian state-sponsored platforms RT and Sputnik from the European media space. The controversial reaction demonstrates that European politicians take the destructiveness of authoritarian states’ international broadcasting seriously. This article addresses the nature of the threat, conceptualised as ‘malign information influence’ (MII): information sponsored by authoritarian regimes or other hostile actors and projected through international broadcasting outlets across borders. The article explores reactions to Russian information influence and outlines key problems that it can cause, above all polarisation and the undermining of trust, media and democracy. It exemplifies Russian information influence towards the Ukraine and a number of other states and exposes different channels, strategies and techniques. Effects are briefly discussed. The article’s key argument is that information influence should not be reduced to a problem of sudden ‘campaigns’ or ‘operations’. It is an enduring, long term, threat.