Some of the damage done by Russian, and even already Soviet propaganda seems unfortunately irreversible. No, I am not only talking about Russia itself; I am speaking about the discourse in the West.
Reasons and signs for this assessment🧵
Reasons and signs for this assessment🧵
There are a number of people who defended the Soviet Union back then and now stand up for Russia. The enemy remains NATO, the United States, "the West"; Russia can do whatever it wants, they will defend the Kremlin's actions.
Instead of admitting that they were already wrong with the Soviet Union back then, many now even defend modern Russia – this also applies to Western communists, even though Russia is not communist anymore
This shows how far the decades-long anti-western campaign initiated by Moscow has influenced our societies. For instance, the myth that the Soviet Union disappeared 'peacefully' and we were not 'grateful' enough—what about the bloodbath in Vilnius 1991?
As an Austrian, I am truly grateful that the Allies left our country in 1955, and we were able to enjoy freedom despite our responsibility for World War 2.
What about the countries that remained occupied & subjugated by Moscow? We ignored that issue; some even praised it.
What about the countries that remained occupied & subjugated by Moscow? We ignored that issue; some even praised it.
Let's move to 2014. Russia told us that 'Russian language is banned in Ukraine,' 'Genocide in Donbas,' 'no Russian military involved,' 'Ukrainians shot down MH17,' & 'US paid Maidan with 5 Billion.' All these lies are still widespread. People refuse to admit that they were wrong
We are talking about politicians, some journalists, 'experts,' 'influencers,' and many more. It takes a lot of guts to admit a mistake, to acknowledge that you are a victim of propaganda. So, people use everything to avoid that painful process of realization.
Instead of countering the various propaganda narratives, many influential people decided to choose self-censorship and avoid the topic entirely. Russian trolls did their part in supporting that development. Debunking—we did not see a lot of it; rather false balance/bothsidesism
The alternate reality created by Russian propaganda is spreading around the world and we are still not aware of the impact.
It is much easier to build resilience against this alternate reality than to help people escape from it
It is much easier to build resilience against this alternate reality than to help people escape from it
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