Digital propaganda, counterpublics and the disruption of the public sphere: the Finnish approach to building digital resilience

Abstract

Drawing on the case of Finland and its model of ‘resilience’ to digital disinformation, the article provides an original framework for understanding the logic of digital propaganda and the conditions that may facilitate an effective response. Building on recent research connecting digital propaganda to the disruption of the public spheres in democratic societies, the study argues that the logic of digital propaganda could be unpacked by examining the mechanisms that facilitate the diffusion of disinformation from the microsphere of the daily individual experience to the macrosphere of political decision-making. It is thus argued that the connection between the two spheres is enabled by the formation and political mobilization of ‘unruly’ counterpublics, that is, of arenas of textual and visual contestation of politically marginalized groups promoting issues aligned with the disinformation agenda. Using this framework, the study shows that Finland’s resilience progress has mostly occurred on the macrosphere level, where effective institutions have been applying transparent and proactive policies grounded in collaboration and research. However, these efforts are at risk of being weakened by the rise of influential counterpublics unless Finland takes further measures to protect its public sphere by reducing divisions in the microsphere.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on Contributors

Corneliu Bjola is Associate Professor in Diplomatic Studies at the University of Oxford and Head of the Oxford Digital Diplomacy Research Group. He also serves as a Faculty Fellow at the Center on Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California and as a Professorial Lecturer at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna. He has published extensively on issues related to the impact of digital technology on the conduct of diplomacy with a recent focus on public diplomacy, international negotiations and methods for countering digital propaganda. His current research project “Diplomacy in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: Evolution or Revolution?” examines the potentially transformative impact of AI in consular affairs, crisis communication, public diplomacy, and international negotiations. Email: [email protected] @cbjola

Krysianna Papadakis received her MSc in Global Governance and Diplomacy from the University of Oxford (2018), and her A.B. in Social Studies from Harvard University with a focus on political theory (2017). Previously, she was a research intern at the Belfer Center for International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School (2016). Email: [email protected]

Notes

1 For example, see Szabó et al (2018), who conduct a cross-country comparison of radical right media, focusing on trends in Central and Eastern Europe. Similar trends are noted in the analysis of Finnish radical right media by Ylä-Anttila (2018). Additionally, Marwick and Lewis (2017) show that the American ‘post-truth’ repertoire consists of similar themes to the former cases (anti-immigration, anti-establishment, often also homophobia and sexism).

2 The narrative has pervaded some articles on Finland, but is often briefly mentioned without much analysis or contextualization. For examples, see Standish (2018) or Gessen (2015).

3 Examples of such articles in English can be found in Pravdareport (2012), RussiaToday (2012), RT International (2011).

4 ‘Trolling’ refers to a specific type of malicious online behavior, intended to disrupt interactions, aggravate interactional partners and lure them into fruitless argumentation (Coles and West 2016, 233).

5 MV-Lehti is cited as one of the most popular counter-media in the “Learning” section of Yle (the education part of the site targeting youth) by (Vehkoo, 2016).

6 The point is made in (Elina Noppari et al 2019), (Ylä-Anttila, 2018) and echoes in interviews by Hiltunen (2018) and Tampere (2018).