Connectivity Between Russian Information Sources and Extremist Communities Across Social Media Platforms
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 13137255 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Rhys Leahy (0000-0001-5363-630X, George Washington University), Nicholas J Restrepo (Coherent Logix (United States)), Richard Sear (0000-0002-1871-7478, George Washington University), Neil F Johnson (0000-0002-3224-3213, George Washington University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 4 |
| Publication date | 2022-06-22 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Frontiers in Political Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2673-3145 • E-ISSN: 2673-3145 |
| Publisher | Frontiers Media (PUBLISHER • CH) |
| DOI | 10.3389/fpos.2022.885362 |
| OpenAlex | W4283261036 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 17 |
The current military conflict between Russia and Ukraine is accompanied by disinformation and propaganda within the digital ecosystem of social media platforms and online news sources. One month prior to the conflict's February 2022 start, a Special Report by the U.S. Department of State had already highlighted concern about the extent to which Kremlin-funded media were feeding the online disinformation and propaganda ecosystem. Here we address a closely related issue: how Russian information sources feed into online extremist communities. Specifically, we present a preliminary study of how the sector of the online ecosystem involving extremist communities interconnects within and across social media platforms, and how it connects into such official information sources. Our focus here is on Russian domains, European Nationalists, and American White Supremacists. Though necessarily very limited in scope, our study goes beyond many existing works that focus on Twitter, by instead considering platforms such as VKontakte, Telegram, and Gab. Our findings can help shed light on the scope and impact of state-sponsored foreign influence operations. Our study also highlights the need to develop a detailed map of the full multi-platform ecosystem in order to better inform discussions aimed at countering violent extremism
Citizen journalism · Disinformation · Political science · Public relations · Scope (computer science · Social media · State (computer science · Computer Science · Law · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Social Media and Politics · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence
What they do in the shadows
Hostile Social Manipulation
Fascists
The "White World's Future?"
Post-Digital Cultures of the Far Right
Topics in terrorism research
Uncovering the Far-Right Online Ecosystem
Right-wing Extremism
The Logic of Connective Action
The Role of the Internet in Facilitating Violent Extremism
Glory to Breivik
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |