Unmasks the disinformation propagated by Russian trolling in public discourse. With the prevalence of disinformation geared to instill doubt rather than clarity, Creating Chaos Online unmasks disinformation when it attempts to pass as deliberation in the public sphere and distorts the democratic processes. Asta Zelenkauskaite finds that repeated tropes justifying Russian trolling were found to circulate across not only all analyzed media platforms’ comments but also across two analyzed sociopolitical contexts suggesting the orchestrated efforts behind messaging. Through a dystopian vision of publics that are expected to navigate in the sea of uncertain both authentic and orchestrated content, pushed by human and nonhuman actors, Creating Chaos Online offers a concept of postpublics. Post-publics is reflected within the continuum of treatment of public, counter public, and anti-public. This book argues that affectinstilled arguments used in public deliberation in times of uncertainty, along with whataboutism constitute a playbook for chaos online.
Author(s): Asta Zelenkauskaitė
Edition: 1
Publisher: University Of Michigan Press
Year: 2022
Language: English
Commentary: TruePDF
Pages: 319
Tags: Deception: Political Aspects; Disinformation: Political Aspects; Electronic Books; Fake News: Political Aspects; Internet: Political Aspects; Online Trolling: Political Aspects: Russia (Federation); Russia (Federation); Social Media Authorship: Political Aspects
Cover
Half title
Title
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
Introduction | A Déjà Vu from the Silenced Generation
Disinformation
Soviet Propaganda in the Eyes of a Child
Vulnerabilities of Social Media
Trolling and Russian Trolling
Russian Trolling Circulation
Chapter 1 | Propagandistic Masquerade
Text as a Mask
Paradoxes of a Mask
Subversiveness of a Mask
Performativity and Modus Operandi of a Propagandist Mask: self-sabotage
Multiple Faces for the Masks: Commenting User Typology
Discussion
Summary
Chapter 2 | Divide and Conquer: Exploiting Political Polarization
Frameworks of Information Persuasion
Communication Persuasion Models
Mechanics of Propaganda
Communicative Tactics: Attack, Defense, and Whataboutism
Tactics Used in Online News Comments
Discussion
Summary
Chapter 3 | Instilling Mistrust in Institutions
Living in Media
Comments as Forms of News Deliberations
News Portals Comments as Information Warfare Zones
Contexts That Situate Online Public Deliberation
Discrediting Media as an Institution
Attack on Government Institutions
Discussion
Summary
Chapter 4 | Roots of Russia’s Victim’s Playing
New Media and Information Warfare in Authoritarian Regimes
Roots of Russia’s (Information) Warfare
Information Warfare in Action by Russia
Victim-Playing Russian Trolls in the News Comments
Delegitimization Rhetoric
Summary
Chapter 5 | Deny and Conquer: Fears of Looking Like a “Pussy State”
Implications of the Denialism Discourse regarding Russian Trolling
Psychology of Denialism
Denial and Conspiracy Theories
Denial Normalization Traps to Avoid
Discussion
Summary
Epilogue | Now What?
Imperviousness to Chaos
What Solutions Are There for Russian Trolling?
Web as a Zero Institution
Appendix
Bibliography
Index
