Overview

In LiveJournal and Russian Disinformation, J.J. Sylvia IV analyzes the role of blogging platform LiveJournal in Russia’s information warfare strategy, examining its evolution and co-optation as a case study. Through rigorous analysis, Sylvia demonstrates how epistemic sabotage became central to the Kremlin’s efforts to manipulate truth, and more broadly, how the ever-increasing reach of the internet and social media platforms can be weaponized by authoritarian regimes to disrupt knowledge systems and destabilize democracies. While the growing ubiquity of the internet and its networks have ushered in countless opportunities and benefits on individual, organizational, and international levels, Sylvia emphasizes the double-edged sword of the new risks that must be considered in turn. As fascism is on the rise worldwide and anti-democratic governments wield social media as a tool to stoke division and spread disinformation among citizens worldwide—democratic countries being no exception—he contends that understanding this tactical shift is critically relevant not only to the Russian context, but also to the challenges of navigating truth and democracy on a global scale in the 21st century. LiveJournal and Russian Disinformation coherently identifies, documents, and interprets the logics and implications of this evolution in warfare, leaving readers with a more nuanced understanding of the platform as an early battle in a new digital arena—one which is not likely to be the last.

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9781666954555

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J.J. Sylvia IV is Associate Professor of Communications Media in the School of Arts and Sciences at Fitchburg State University, USA.

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