Dmitry Kiselev gives a presentation about the Sputnik news agency in 2014. (c) Alexey Filippov / RIA Novosti. All rights reserved.Russian engineers prepare to investigate whether the Americans really landed on the moon. Sergey Lavrov declares that US diplomats were frequently among the protesters on Moscow’s streets. These claims aren’t from the draft of a forgotten Tom Clancy novel – they’re the reality of today’s newsfeeds.
Over the past few weeks, the Russian word kompromat [incriminating material] has entered the English language alongside babushka, vodka and sputnik. Alongside the scandal of “fake news”, European states are even more wary of Russian interference on their electoral processes. How should Europe respond? How should any state approach pro-Kremlin propaganda being broadcast to its citizens? And aren’t we exaggerating the force of the “Kremlin’s hidden hand”?
To address these questions and more, a roundtable discussion was held in early January at the Stereoscope journalists’ club, moderated by Moritz Gathmann (Ostpol, RTVD, Spiegel Online) and featuring:
