From Crimea to Covid: The EU's changing perspective on Russian disinformation from 2015-2021

Sammanfattning: We are currently living in the information age. Our social media news feeds are constantly filled with updates from our friends and family, but also with news and findings from all around the world. With these massive information flows, it is becoming harder to fact check. Actors, such as Russia, have used the new information environment to their advantage, by spreading disinformation campaigns. Simultaneously as social media has grown in popularity, tensions between Russia and the European Union have increased. The Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 especially complicated the relationship, with agreements paused and EU sanctions imposed. In 2015, the EU started to actively address the issue of disinformation and have since published multiple strategies regarding disinformation. Using the discourse analysis “What is the Problem Represented to Be” and the theory of securitization, this thesis will explore how the perception of Russian disinformation as a threat has changed in EU’s discourse from 2015 to 2021. By analyzing six documents on disinformation published by the EU using these tools, a gradual securitization of Russian disinformation can be identified where the EU has adapted its threat perception to other challenges, such as democratic elections and the Covid-19 pandemic.