How authoritarian regimes are using news to create a sense that democracy is ineffective

When we talk about disinformation – the intentional spreading of misleading information – we usually picture blatant lies and “fake news” pushed by foreign governments. Sometimes the intention is to sway voters in elections, and sometimes it’s to sow confusion in a crisis.

But this is a somewhat simplified version of events. In fact, authoritarian countries, such as Russia and, increasingly, China, are engaged in continuous and more expansive projects aimed at creating a tilted political reality. They seek to subtly undermine the image of western democracies, presenting themselves, and their growing bloc of authoritarian partners, as the future.

Crafting this political reality includes the use of blatant falsities, but the narrative is typically grounded in a much more insidious manipulation of information. Positive facts are highlighted to a disproportionate degree, while inconvenient ones are ignored or taken out of context, so that they appear more in line with the narrator’s goals.

The Kremlin has, for a long time, used state-sponsored media outlets, proxy media outlets or bots to disperse a consistent stream of stories – news articles, tweets, videos or social media posts – designed to subtly steer and antagonise political discussions in democratic societies. Reports show that these stories can reach audiences far beyond their original Russian...

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