Kremlin’s propaganda in our pockets. How disinformation thrives on Telegram.

Kremlin’s propaganda in our pockets. How disinformation thrives on Telegram.

By banning Kremlin’s TV and online propaganda in the Baltics, the access to such resources has become more challenging only for those whose primary source used to be television. Now social media platforms have taken up that space, among which Telegram stands out because it does not share data with governments and does not moderate disinformation and lies.

In the Baltics, the most popular channels directed towards local Russian speakers are not having the big following in numbers, but that is not the point:  their main role is to amplify each other’s content and create the impression that many people think alike. Telegram played a particularly significant role during the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Various activists, both well-known and new, have joined forces on “Telegram” to popularise pro-Kremlin messages.