Russia: conspiracy theories, spin and fear dictatorship
The autocracies of yesterday ruled by force, those of today rule by information. This is the message of the book entitled “Spin Dictators” written by Sergei Guriev and Daniel Treisman.
Ilya Yablokov’s recent monograph Russia Today and Conspiracy Theories: People, Power, Politics on RT (with Precious Chatterje-Doody) explores how Russian international broadcaster uses traditional and new media environments to spread disinformation on subnational.
How did information replace violence in autocrats’ playbook? How do modern dictators build information autocracies? Is there a “way out”? What is the role of conspiracy theories in modern Russia and how important were these theories in launching the invasion? What is the role of conspiracy theories?
Following their panel at Budapest Forum 2022 we had the chance to discuss about these hot issues with two of the most acknowledged experts.
Speakers:
Sergei Guriev, the co-author of “Spin Dictators” and a professor at Sciences PO
Ilya Yablokov, lecturer in journalism and digital media at the University of Sheffield and an expert on disinformation,
Moderator:
Péter Krekó, director of Political Capital
The recording was taken on 21 September 2022.
