Mapping the Global Audiences of Russia’s Domestic News: How Social Networks Function as Transmitters of Authoritarian News to Foreign Audiences

Authors

  • Julia Kling PhD Candidate at the Chair of Political Communication with a Focus on Eastern Europe and the Post-Soviet Region, University of Passau, Germany Researcher at the ERC Consolidator Project on ‘The Consequences of the Internet for Russia’s Informational Influence Abroad’ (RUSINFORM) This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 819025)

Keywords:

international news flows, Facebook, Russia, social networking sites

Abstract

In this study, I investigated the foreign Facebook audiences of Russia’s most influential domestic news outlets (n = 50) with regard to the presence of criticism toward the political elite (nonleadership-critical, leadership-critical). Accordingly, I triangulated two Facebook application programming interfaces that have rarely been used in communication research. Findings demonstrate that, as of January 24, 2022–February 23, 2022, 40% of the outlets attract more than half of their Facebook audience abroad. The largest audiences are found (1) in the post-Soviet region, hence, in countries with high geographical and language proximity, and (2) for nonleadership-critical news outlets. This study is politically relevant, as it shows how Facebook primarily functions as a transmission channel of Russian state-aligned news to foreign audiences.

Author Biography

Julia Kling, PhD Candidate at the Chair of Political Communication with a Focus on Eastern Europe and the Post-Soviet Region, University of Passau, Germany Researcher at the ERC Consolidator Project on ‘The Consequences of the Internet for Russia’s Informational Influence Abroad’ (RUSINFORM) This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 819025)

PhD Candidate at the Chair of Political Communication with a Focus on Eastern Europe and the Post-Soviet Region, University of Passau, GermanyResearcher at the ERC Consolidator Project on ‘The Consequences of the Internet for Russia’s Informational Influence Abroad’ (RUSINFORM)This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 819025)

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Published

2022-08-13

Issue

Vol. 16 (2022)

Section

Articles

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