Anyone reading online articles on the Websites of the German press concerning the situation in the Ukraine can't help but notice the overwhelming pro-Putin sentiments expressed in the reader comments. The highly-respected liberal weekly Die Zeit has been hit especially hard, and recently published a response:
Allerdings verdichten sich die Hinweise, dass der Kreml im Kampf um die öffentliche Meinung aufgerüstet hat. Soziale Netzwerke und Kommentarleisten wichtiger Medien sind im Visier der russischen Propaganda-Maschine. Vor allem in Deutschland, England und den USA hat eine Debatte über manipulierte Kommentare begonnen, doch so vielfältig die Verdachtsmomente sind, so dürftig sind die Beweise.
(Certainly there are indications that the Kremlin has been arming itself for the battle for public opinion. The Russian propaganda machine has set its sights on social media sites and reader commentary sections of important media properties. The debate concerning the manipulation of comments - especiatlly in Germany, England, and the US - has already begun. But despite the high degree of suspicion, concrete proof is difficult to come by.)
The Kremlin has recruited an army of young bloggers and hackers to flood sites such as Die Zeit or the Huffington Post with comments attacking the west for "hypicrisy" and praising Putin for standing up to "US Imperialism".
Vom Kreml gesteuerte Medienagenturen bezahlten demnach vor allem junge Menschen dafür, immer wieder die gleichen Textbausteine unter Artikel mit Russlandbezug zu setzen oder bei Facebook zu posten. Die Vorwürfe doppelter Standards und der Heuchelei westlicher Politiker gehören dabei zum gebräuchlichen Repertoire. [...] Um die 800 Dollar verdienten Mitarbeiter dort für einen Monat "Copy & Paste"-Dienst am Vaterland, wahlweise um [...]das umsichtige Handeln der russischen Regierung zu loben.
(Media agencies controlled by the Kremlin pay a group of mostly young people to place the same text modules under articles pertaining to Russia or post to Facebook. A common theme is to accuse Western politicians of hypocrisy and a double standard. The workers makeabout $800 a month for their "copy and paste" service to the Fatherland, praising the "prudent" actions of the Russian government.)
An article in Die Welt provides a good example of how the Russian Propaganda Machine works. When a piece favorable to Russia recently appeared in Der Spiegel (no doubt by columnist and Putin-apologist Jakob Augstein), the following directive went out from the Kremlin: "Bitte auf FB (Facebook, d. Red) und Twitter reserviert die gute Analyse loben spiegel.de/politik/auslan….(+ Erwähung in @mestngaset (Lokalzeitungen) und @vlastei (Behörden) am Ende des Tweets".
Jolanta Darczewska, a researcher at the Centre for Eastern Studies in Warsaw has studied the Russian Propaganda Machine extensively and published her findings in this report (pdf): The Anatomy of Russian Information Warfare.
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