WHEREVER one sits on the political spectrum, the information explosion brought about by the internet and social media brings with it real challenges about what to believe and what not to believe. We are using the word “information” here in its loosest sense. Some of what we read informs. Some misinforms.
When we consider Russia, perhaps a large part of our thinking is informed by the days of the Cold War and Pravda. Happy days? Not by a long chalk. But infinitely less complex than today. While it is always easy to consider Vladimir Putin’s Russia in the most sinister light, only the most naive would deny it has recognised the value of new media as a propaganda tool.
But, nowadays, it is not even as straightforward as that. One expert at the Scottish Parliament’s Cross Party Group on Russia has noted that, far from simply exporting an ideology or world-view, Moscow is deploying a range of outlets aimed simply at stirring up trouble and, presumably, undermining the West.
These media include the up-front and quite professional web and broadcasting outlets of Russia Today and Sputnik (which, last year, opened an office in Edinburgh); troll factories, in which operatives in shifts work social media; and fake news websites.
An essential part of their modus operandi appears to be stirring up nationalist sentiment, at least in its right-wing guise. Thus, Donald Trump in the US, Marine Le Pen in France, and the far right in Germany may have benefited from their efforts.
In Europe, Brexit and its various continental counterparts have been seen as the main tool of disruption, which may at least have had the effect of taking the Scottish National Party off the list of perceived “useful idiots”, so to speak. When seen as fomenting the break-up of the United Kingdom, the SNP was much more flavour of the month.
But the party’s staunch pro-EU stance, and its much more moderate approach to politics generally, might make it now more of an enemy than a useful if unwitting ally. Undermining the EU is a much bigger prize and, with Nicola Sturgeon something of a heroine in Brussels, the propaganda focus as far as Scotland is concerned could be about to turn against independence. So runs some well-informed speculation.
To its credit, even when Russian state media outlets came on friendly, the SNP (with one or two exceptions) wisely kept its distance. Some of its supporters, particularly on the fringes – as well as those on the extremes of other parties – complain about the “mainstream media”, seeing it as deploying malicious propaganda through its own nefarious means.
But, odd though it may sound to say so, the mainstream media isn’t at the races when it comes to this sort of thing, and The Herald for its part must surely have missed the memo. Our simple, if old-fashioned and worthy, interest remains the truth and nothing but.
Hence our support for a Fighting Fake News campaign launched recently. The sad fact is that vigilance is required, particularly online. The truth may well be out there, but falsehoods also abound.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel