COUNTERING PUTIN’S LIES
By Jay R. Mandle
Success in pushing back against Russian aggression in Ukraine requires opening a second front. The war will have to be won on the battlefield. But victory will also require opening a flow of accurate news to the Russian people. Only then can they learn that Putin has been lying to them about why their country is at war.
According to recent polling data, more than half the Russian people believe that the brutality imposed on Ukraine is justifiable. That is the consequence of Vladimir Putin’s drastically limiting what Russians can learn about the invasion. He understands all too well that by cutting off the free flow of information, he can preserve his power – power that otherwise would be at risk. If the Russian population was exposed to the truth about the war, many would likely turn against both it and Putin. However without information that contradicts his lies, Russians are intellectually imprisoned. With almost complete censorship of radio, television and social media, they have no ability to formulate an explanation for the devastation inflicted on Ukraine that differs from what their government tells them.
It is hard to know how aggressive the Biden Administration and its allies have been in establishing a “freedom of information” second front. But the available evidence suggests that it has not been a high priority. A recent CNN story reports that the State Department, as well as the New York Times and the Washington Post, have opened Telegram accounts in an attempt to break Putin’s monopoly on information. That there is an audience in Russia for alternative viewpoints is reflected by the fact that the Atlantic magazine describes demand by Russians for VPNs (virtual private networks) skyrocketing, increasing by 2,500 percent compared to pre-invasion levels.
In addition to these efforts, the BBC has used the Psiphon app, a private network source that helps conceal user locations, to attract a Russian audience. Furthemore, the BBC announced that it will revive its long-discarded short-wave service, in the hope that short wave receivers still exist in Russia. And private citizens have also tried to break through the information blockade. An unknown number of Americans have used a website, built by volunteer programmers known as Squad 3030, to send text messages to Russians. Perhaps the most ambitious of these efforts has been Arnold Schwarzenegger’s video in which, according to non-profit journalism site Poynter Resources, “he takes pains to separate the Russian Government from the Russian people.” Poynter describes the video as a “master class in how to get people to reconsider their views.”
However, there is little evidence that these efforts are sufficient. Russian engagement with the United States Telegram account has been very modest, with only 1,911 subscribers. Similarly, there have been few responses to VPN messages, and some replies have been aggressively supportive of the war. CNN cites an authority who believes that much more could be done, writing that the effort to reach Russians with the truth should “emulate the huge propaganda effort of the Cold War when significant resources were dedicated to pushing messaging toward the Soviet Population.” Unfortunately, nothing on that scale is underway.
From the experience here in the United States, we know that it is not easy to move people away from their entrenched beliefs. Those whose political information comes from a single source, like Fox News for example, have proven to be particularly resistant to alternative voices. But to the extent that multiple viewpoints are available, we know that at least some can be won over from the echo chamber of falsehoods. Thus, the effort to move the Russian people away from false information needs to be sustained over a long period of time – perhaps even beyond the cessation of hostilities.
It is impossible to know what a successor regime to Putin’s might look like. But it is likely that the outcome of the Ukraine War will be interpreted as a national humiliation by Russia’s leaders. In such a context, Putin or whoever follows him, could well engage in renewed Russian aggression against its neighbors. If that were to occur, the Russian population will need truthful information if they are to resist another war.
The people of Russia are not responsible for this war. Indeed, Russian soldiers were not even informed of their mission before being sent into combat. What is clear is that the Ukraine armed forces have ensured that, on the military front, a takeover of the country will not easily occur. But the rest of the world has an important role to play . It needs to create a second front by finding ways to provide Russians with accurate information concerning their country’s aggression. Arming them with the truth could be an crucial component of securing peace, today as well as in the future.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jay Mandle is the Emerita W. Bradford Wiley Professor of Economics, Emeritus, at Colgate University. His many books include Change Elections to Change America: Democracy Matters Students In Action, and Creating Political Equality: Elections As a Public Good. Mandle’s regular monthly editorials, Money On My Mind, appear on the Democracy Matters website, and explore the role of private money in politics and other critical social issues. The views expressed in Money On My Mind are those of the author, (not necessarily those of Democracy Matters, and are meant to stimulate discussion.