Pro-Russian “propaganda architects” spread disinformation which is designed to target the emotions of those consuming it and ultimately to control their actions, and this represents a "grave threat" to democracies and security, Finnish journalist, Jessikka Aro, told N1.

Aro, who is the author of ‘Putin's Trolls’, began investigating pro-Russian internet trolls back in 2014 and ultimately became their target herself. The harassment she endured led to three people being convicted.

Aro told N1's Nikola Vucic that she learned about an organised group of pro-Russian trolls in 2014, when Russian independent journalists uncovered a so-called “troll factory” where she said people worked as “propaganda spreaders” behind fake and anonymous social media profiles, filling the information sphere with pro-Putin propaganda.

“I found that, even as a journalist, as a professional processor of information, it was sometimes very difficult to find out what is actually true and what is not true,” she told N1.

She gave the example of information on Russia’s activities in Ukraine, noting that “there was so much disinformation and lies” regarding this topic.
Aro wanted to know whether these activities could have a real impact on people.

She then started a crowdsourced investigation which involved her asking readers in her country to look for this new phenomenon. The investigation uncovered some of the techniques the trolls use and how the trolls “were trying to push people’s buttons.”

Aro said that the tactics used by these trolls had a lot in common with what Jihadists who she previously also investigated would do. She explained that the Jihadists were abusing social media channels, such as Youtube, as well as comment sections and discussion forums back in 2010 in order to recruit fighters for their cause.

According to Aro, Russian trolls and “propaganda architects” have skillfully built a “multi-layered international network” that consists of pro-Kremlin media, such as RT and Sputnik. Those operate in many different languages and also have subsidiaries, such as Ruptly.

“Many people who consume this material don’t know that it is actually Kremlin-funded propaganda,” she said, adding that these are clearly “tools of information warfare.”

She explained that there are also hundreds of “proxy fake news sites” operating throughout the world within this network, spreading “Russian troll materials” while posing as a local news portal.

Aro said that what worries her the most is that this can be very effective.

“What I’m most worried about, and what I found in my investigation, is that unfortunately this Russian social media propaganda is designed to target your emotions and to control your actions through those emotions. So that’s why it really can turn into a grave threat to not just democracies or liberties and freedoms of western countries, but also to the security of individuals or nations,” she said.

She said that this is “international crime” and that it requires an international response, for example by intelligence and police agencies.

More on the dangers and consequences of pro-Russian disinformation campaigns, how they target specific groups, how they are funded, what countries are doing to respond to the problem, as well as more on Aro’s personal experience as a target of those activities, can be heard in the full interview linked above.