Dismiss, distort, distract, dismay

Abstract

A territorial entity within the former USSR, currently a ‘buffer’ zone in Eastern Europe between Russia and the West, the Republic of Moldova is facing pressure from the Russian Federation whose purpose is to strengthen its (geopolitical) position in the Eurasian region. Due to this complicated legacy, the citizens of the Republic of Moldova are divided between pro-Russian and pro-European feelings, a division that creates a fertile ground for propaganda through which Russia and its supporters can easily ‘dismiss, distort, distract, and dismay’ part of the electorate, in an attempt to weaponize information in a ‘hybrid war’. Relations between Russia and Moldova have deteriorated further after the election by Moldovans of a pro-European government, as well as after Russia’s war in Ukraine, which instilled worries and fears in the Moldovan civil society. Building on this information, the purpose of this study is, on the one hand, to analyse how the pro-Russian Moldovan political parties and media outlets spread pro-Kremlin propaganda via media channels generally, and social media in particular, to support Russia in exerting its influence in the region, and, on the other hand, to see how the civil society–with the support of the pro-European Moldovan government–reacts to and fights against this disinformation campaign. To do so, by focusing on more recent events, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we shall carry out a qualitative analysis (content analysis and discourse analysis) of discourses, news, and posts shared on social media platforms in Moldova by pro-Russian political parties and media outlets with a view to identifying the key themes (narratives) of the pro-Kremlin propaganda in Moldova, and the discursive strategies used to reject negative comments (dismiss), to twist information to serve their interests (distort), to turn Moldovans’ attention to other aspects (distract), and to strongly discourage any attempts to work against Russia and its interests (dismay). Furthermore, we shall also look at the measures taken by Moldovan authorities and NGOs to combat disinformation and protect the civil society from pro-Russian propaganda.