propaganda Archives - VSQUARE.ORG

Pole and Hungarian brothers be. How Warsaw and Budapest use taxpayers’ money to build pro-government propaganda

disinformation, media, propaganda, public media

Graphics by Lenka Matoušková

With almost five hundred media outlets owned by a single pro-government foundation and hundreds of millions of euros of state advertising transferred annually to fund it, Hungary’s right-wing government has built Europe’s largest propaganda machine since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Warsaw follows in Budapest’s footsteps with a growing stream of taxpayers’ money funnelled […]

Attila Bátorfy

VSquare

Konrad Szczygieł

18.12.2019

State hate on judges

disinformation, propaganda, trolls

Close associates of Poland’s justice minister organised a smear campaign aimed at judges who were critical of the changes in the Polish judiciary

Anna Gielewska

19.09.2019

Elections under the Polish and Russian watchful eyes

elections, propaganda, Russia

Political rally during the presidential campaign in Madagascar. Photo: Skip Russell (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

In November 2018, several Polish activists and journalists from a leftist website joined Russia’s CIS-EMO delegation on a trip to Madagascar to monitor the country’s presidential election. The group of observers included people with links to the Kremlin. Yet instead of acting as observers, they secretly funded the campaigns of several presidential candidates.

Patryk Szczepaniak

Konrad Szczygieł

Mateusz Bajek

30.08.2019

In Russia’s shadow, populists rise before the Latvian elections

elections, propaganda

Before the elections pro-Russia's politicians spread anti-Latvian propaganda

Every European election these days starts with the same two questions. The first is obvious: who is going to win and form the government? And will Russia interfere as it did in the US presidential election?

VSquare

03.10.2018

Western Ukraine burning. How Russia sets fire to the EU’s external border

disinformation, propaganda, right wing

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Photo via: Sergii Knyazev (Ukrainian National Police chief) | Facebook

Disguised as Ukrainian nationalists, three Poles set fire to the seat of Hungarian minority in Ukraine. It might sound like a scene from „The Olsen Gang”, but it is not – it really happened. The country that benefits from the arsons is Russia. Authors: Anastasiya Moroz, Sebastian Klauziński, Szabolcs Panyi, Patryk Szczepaniak, Konrad Szczygieł (oko.press) […]

Szabolcs Panyi

Anastasiia Moroz

Konrad Szczygieł

27.06.2018

Target or ally? Hungary faces the elections battle

democracy, disinformation, elections, fake news, Hungary, media, propaganda, Russia

Hungary does not need to be afraid of Russian trolls meddling in coming elections: the Hungarian government has a friendly relationship with Russia and its taxpayer-funded media empire is happily pushing out the Kremlin’s messages.

Anita Komuves

03.04.2018

Nuclear lobbyists, Judo championship and Putin’s tricks

business, propaganda, Vladimir Putin

Photo by Wojciech Grzedzinski

Hungary’s largest university teamed up with local Rosatom lobbyists in a freelancing effort to please the Russian president with a surprise award ceremony

Szabolcs Panyi

15.02.2018

From internet brigades to troll factories

disinformation, fake news, Internet, Poland, propaganda, Russia, trolls

The Russian online propaganda offensive has been launched after Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of war in Ukraine. The aftermath of this operation still echoes around the world today.

VSQUARE

28.12.2017

The Hunter of Russian propaganda

disinformation, propaganda, right wing, social media

Georgian man holds body of his brother after attack of Russian air force on three civilian buildings in Gori, about 80 kms from Tbilisi, 9th of August 2008

‘Circles close to Kremlin are trying to turn the border city of Przemyśl into Polish Belfast. They are doing it through reviving long standing disagreements between Poland and Ukraine, and with help of the local radical nationalists,” says Marcin Rey, the creator of a Facebook profile „Russian 5th Column in Poland’.

VSQUARE

21.10.2017

The man who wanted more

disinformation, nationalism, propaganda

photo by Wojciech Grzedzinski, Luganskoye 13th of July 2016

Alexander Usovski was active in the Visegrad region, set up foundations, looked for EU grants, finally received money from Russia in cash, without leaving any paper trail. That’s how he started to organize a network of dutiful and useful people. And indeed, everything went just the way his sponsor wanted.

Paweł Reszka

Pavla Holcova

14.10.2017