Social Media in Russia: Between State and Society

Social media in Russia exists in a state of flux between the increasing state control on the one hand and the tradition of free online communication in the country on the other. Despite the risks free online spaces might constitute to the stability of the regime, the state continues to tolerate them, as they also provide a number of benefits for the regime, such as citizen feedback, illusion of democracy and a way to vent people's anger

The role of context in incivility research

Incivility is a concept with a wide scope of interpretations, ranging from impoliteness to aggressive and extremist speech. The definition of uncivil speech is highly context-sensitive, and this contextual sensitivity should be considered in future research. In this chapter, I argue that choosing to omit context from incivility research may result in the diffusion of authoritarian norms in online content regulation and negatively influence freedom of speech in different sociopolitical settings. I suggest considering four layers of context in incivility research: (1) sociocultural context (the macro level), (2) sociopolitical context (the macro level), (3) organizational context (the meso level), and (4) situational context (the micro level). I elaborate on each level’s role in defining and regulating uncivil speech, and I conclude by suggesting paths for future research

YouTube as Alternative Television in Russia: Political Videos During the Presidential Election Campaign 2018

Previous studies on "youtubification" of political communication (May, 2010) have largely focused on democratic contexts. This study aims at exploring the role of the global video-sharing platform in non-democratic political communication, using the example of the Russian presidential election of 2018. It draws on the qualitative content analysis of 169 political videos collected from the "Popular" section of Russian YouTube during the last 2 months of the presidential campaign. The results show that oppositional discourse dominated the most popular political videos of Russian YouTube and that pro-state actors tried to co-opt the platform, publishing videos made in amateur and semi-professional styles that imitated user-generated content. Drawing on the findings, I discuss the risks and benefits of YouTube publics for the Russian authoritarian regime and the role of social media platforms in consultative authoritarianism

Real-World Political Polarization in Twitter Discussions on Inter-Ethnic Conflicts

Studies of political polarization in social media demonstrate mixed evidence for whether discussions necessarily evolve into left and right ideological echo chambers. Recent research shows that, for political and issue-based discussions, patterns of user clusterization may differ significantly, but that cross-cultural evidence of the polarization of users on certain issues is close to non-existent. Furthermore, most of the studies developed network proxies to detect users’ grouping, rarely taking into account the content of the Tweets themselves. Our contribution to this scholarly discussion is founded upon the detection of polarization based on attitudes towards political actors expressed by users in Germany, the USA and Russia within discussions on inter-ethnic conflicts. For this exploratory study, we develop a mixed-method approach to detecting user grouping that includes: crawling for data collection; expert coding of Tweets; user clusterization based on user attitudes; construction of word frequency vocabularies; and graph visualization. Our results show that, in all the three cases, the groups detected are far from being conventionally left or right, but rather that their views combine anti-institutionalism, nationalism, and pro- and anti-minority views in varying degrees. In addition to this, more than two threads of political debate may co-exist in the same discussion. Thus, we show that the debate that sees Twitter as either a platform of ‘echo chambering’ or ‘opinion crossroads’ may be misleading. In our opinion, the role of local political context in shaping (and explaining) user clusterization should not be under-estimated

Propaganda on demand: Russia’s media environment during the war in Ukraine

In this essay, I explore the nature of propaganda in a hybrid media environment through the example of Russian propaganda during the ongoing war in Ukraine. I start by briefly overviewing the Russian media system’s development, focusing on the roots of cynical attitude toward journalism in the society. After analyzing propaganda strategies, I suggest the propaganda on demand concept, which describes the manipulation of public opinion by targeting different social milieus with specifically tailored narratives. In Russia’s case, this approach is based on inconsistency and eclecticism. However, it seems well suited to the very logic of the digital realm, which helps the state deliver often-contradicting narratives to different target groups

Beyond Left and Right: Real-World Political Polarization in Twitter Discussions on Inter-Ethnic Conflicts

Studies of political polarization in social media demonstrate mixed evidence for whether discussions necessarily evolve into left and right ideological echo chambers. Recent research shows that, for political and issue-based discussions, patterns of user clusterization may differ significantly, but that cross-cultural evidence of the polarization of users on certain issues is close to non-existent. Furthermore, most of the studies developed network proxies to detect users’ grouping, rarely taking into account the content of the Tweets themselves. Our contribution to this scholarly discussion is founded upon the detection of polarization based on attitudes towards political actors expressed by users in Germany, the USA and Russia within discussions on inter-ethnic conflicts. For this exploratory study, we develop a mixed-method approach to detecting user grouping that includes: crawling for data collection; expert coding of Tweets; user clusterization based on user attitudes; construction of word frequency vocabularies; and graph visualization. Our results show that, in all the three cases, the groups detected are far from being conventionally left or right, but rather that their views combine anti-institutionalism, nationalism, and pro- and anti-minority views in varying degrees. In addition to this, more than two threads of political debate may co-exist in the same discussion. Thus, we show that the debate that sees Twitter as either a platform of 'echo chambering' or 'opinion crossroads' may be misleading. In our opinion, the role of local political context in shaping (and explaining) user clusterization should not be under-estimated

A New Definition of Journalism Functions in the Framework of Hybrid Media Systems: German and Russian Academic Perspectives

The communication patterns of our society have undergone crucial changes due to the development of the digital public sphere and the formation of ‘hybrid media systems’ (Chadwick 2011). This transformation challenges professional journalism in its role as the fourth estate. It is obviously essential to re-think the role and functions of mass media in the modern ‘network society’ (Castells, 2010). Some experts even talk about the end of the “century of journalism” (Weischenberg, 2010), and others argue that it is just the end of the 20th century’s news-journalism and the beginning of the new kind of professional journalism that will still be able to fulfill its core functions of building the public sphere, in accordance with the conditions of the transformed society (Pöttker, 2012). For conventional mass media that means a major switch from ‘news’-journalism to ‘orientation’ journalism (Bruns, 2005). This transformation has been intensified in Russia by the protest movement that fueled a discussion among journalists about new standards of journalism: should they just be observers or are they allowed and even supposed be activists of social movements? This paper examines what this paradigmatic shift means to the profession and to the self-identification of journalists as it is being viewed in Russia and in Germany. The author presents arguments of journalism scholars and journalists from both countries and argues that this development brings along a number of serious challenges for the society, connected with an enormous rise of opinion writing that leads journalists back to the era of pre-professional and precommercial journalism. In order to preserve journalism as a profession with socially important functions, a revision of the concept and of the standards of journalism is needed, both in Germany and in Russia

"Unsichtbare rote Linien": Internet-Regulierung und ihre Konsequenzen für den Online-Journalismus in Russland

Die Protestbewegung von 2011/2012 hat das Mobilisierungspotential von Runet, dem russischen Internet, aufgezeigt. Seitdem hat der russische Staat die Regulierung der digitalen Medien aus dem Embryostadium heraus zu einem wohlentwickelten restriktiven Rahmenwerk ausgebaut. Die neue Internet-Gesetzgebung wird allerdings selektiv angewandt, was einen einschüchternden Effekt auf die gesamte Medienbranche hat

Constructive Aggression? Multiple Roles of Aggressive Content in Political Discourse on Russian YouTube

Abstract Today, aggressive verbal behavior is generally perceived as a threat to integrity and democratic quality of public discussions, including those online. However, we argue that, in more restrictive political regimes, communicative aggression may play constructive roles in both discussion dynamics and empowerment of political groups. This might be especially true for restrictive political and legal environments like Russia, where obscene speech is prohibited by law in registered media and the political environment does not give much space for voicing discontent. Taking Russian YouTube as an example, we explore the roles of two under-researched types of communicative aggression—obscene speech and politically motivated hate speech—within the publics of video commenters. For that, we use the case of the Moscow protests of 2019 against non-admission of independent and oppositional candidates to run for the Moscow city parliament. The sample of over 77,000 comments for 13 videos of more than 100,000 views has undergone pre-processing and vocabulary-based detection of aggression. To assess the impact of hate speech upon the dynamics of the discussions, we have used Granger tests and assessment of discussion histograms; we have also assessed the selected groups of posts in an exploratory manner. Our findings demonstrate that communicative aggression helps to express immediate support and solidarity. It also contextualizes the criticism towards both the authorities and regime challengers, as well as demarcates the counter-public