Yevgeniy Golovchenko defends his PhD thesis

Candidate

Yevgeniy Golovchenko

Title

"Pro-Kremlin Disinformation on Social Media"

 
The thesis is available as an e-book via Academic books.

Time and venue

Friday 9 October, 2020 at 16:00 at the University of Copenhagen, Centre for Health and Society, building 35, room 35.01.06. Kindly note that the defence will start precisely at 16:00.

Due to corona restrictions only thirty people are allowed to participate in the defence in person. For this reason you must have an official invitation for the defence, please contact the PhD administration: phdcourses@ifs.ku.dk if you have any questions. However the defence will be streamed online on Zoom, and is therefore open to the public. To gain access to the defence on Zoom please use the following link: https://ucph-ku.zoom.us/j/61142917735. Passcode: 916623. Please make sure to turn off your camera and microphone.

Assessment committee

  • Professor with special responsibilities Anders Wivel, Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen (chair)
     
  • Associate Professor Molly E. Roberts, University of California, USA
     
  • Professor Sarah Oates, University of Maryland, USA

Abstract

Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 was followed by a growing public interest in Kremlin’s use of online disinformation abroad. Scholars, authorities and journalists often portray Russia as a powerful agent of state-driven deception, capable of using social media to sway elections and even winning an information war against the West. The purpose of this article-based dissertation is to nuance these views by examining the nature and scope of pro-Kremlin disinformation and counter-disinformation on social media. Through its empirical findings, the dissertation contributes to a debate that is largely driven by theoretical perspectives and journalistic accounts. For this purpose, the dissertation uses methods from computational social science to analyze cases of pro-Kremlin disinformation and counter disinformation. Each dissertation article tied to a historically significant event - from 2014 to 2017 - during the deteriorating relationship between Russia and the West.