Digital Disinformation: Evidence from Ukraine
There is a pervasive fear that information technology enhances the effectiveness of destabilizing disinformation campaigns. Yet evidence from Ukraine, the paradigmatic case of “hybrid war”, indicates this threat is overstated, argues Lennart Maschmeyer in this CSS Analysis. Rather, traditional media remain far more influential. The prevailing focus on technology hampers both analysis and the development of effective counterstrategies
The spectre of Russian “hybrid war” continues to haunt defense planners and audiences in the West. Digital disinformation campaigns are held to be a central means of waging such wars, extending a destabilizing influence even where military power does not reach. Some analysts now go as far as to suggest that non-military instruments have become the primary threat to Western interests. If true, this development would revolutionize the nature of conflict. Assessing the disinformation threat is thus both urgent and important.