[IRONIC] Russia's propaganda machine is so powerful that many Russians don't even realize they're in a disinformation bubble

submitted by [deleted] from businessinsider.com

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[–][deleted] 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

Quality post. I watch BBC news daily and thus have seen interviews by their reporters of Russians and Ukrainians, some of which show how unaware some of them are of the manipulations of Russian propaganda. (I know Saiditors will tell me not to watch the BBC, but I don't refer here to the reporters' comments, but to the comments of those being interviewed.) One of the older ladies interviewed in her apartment in Russia confirmed 3 issues:

When told that the TV news might be misleading, she indicated that she does not want to believe that her country would cause harm to Ukrainians, that she did not want to believe that the government would lie to her, and that she supports the Russian government because she is Russian.

The concept of independent beliefs and reasoning is very different in Russia.

[–][deleted] 7 insightful - 4 fun7 insightful - 3 fun8 insightful - 4 fun -  (3 children)

It's ironic though because you can say the same thing about the US.

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

I don't think it compares, mainly because of easy access in the US to a wide variety of news sources via cable, online &c. Russians and Chinese have to VPN to see alternative news, and many probably do, but the majority arguably do not.

[–][deleted] 4 insightful - 3 fun4 insightful - 2 fun5 insightful - 3 fun -  (1 child)

The search engines control everything we see and hear. They down rank or don't show the proper results for certain searches. We know this. The Russian situation is not just comparable, it's the same damned thing.

[–][deleted] 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

it's the same damned thing.

There is no comparison, on several levels. Ask Russians. They also cannot publically protest, or they go to jail upon the 3rd offense. The extent of the disinformation in Russian news media really does not compare with news media spin in the US MSM. Access in Russia is also limited because the majority live on extremely limited budgets. Look for yourself. There is a massive difference between types of access to the news in the US vs. that in other countries, and in Russia. Regarding search engines, there are some Russians who know how to set DNS to 8.8.8.8, and how to instead use DuckDuckGo, or other alternative search options. The Russian Government blocks access to some sites, and thus in Russia many use a VPN. But as I said, there is also the desire in Russia to believe that the government is in good hands. Many who are under age 35 are very angry with the government abuses, and they often protest, when there isn't the threat of jail. There is a similar problem in Iran, where half the population is under 35 and sick of the theocracy. It boils down to one issue: you have better access to relatively reliable news media in a fuctioning democracy than in a dictatorship. It's that simple. They don't compare. It's world history 101.