Citation
Furman, Ivo Ozan; Gürel, Kurt Bilgin; Sivaslıoğlu, Fırat Berk. 'As Reliable as a Kalashnikov Rifle': How Sputnik News Promotes Russian Vaccine Technologies in the Turkish Twittersphere
. Social Media + Society Vol 9, no. 1 (FEB 2023): 1-14. DOI: 10.1177/20563051221150418.
Findings
The authors find support for the hypothesis that SputnikTR used strategic communication to market Russia's COVID vaccine to the public. The medium also advanced pro-Russian, anti-Western themes. The study examined Russian influence operations targeting Turkey, specifically by examining the messaging of the Twitter account for SputnikTR, Sputnik News' localized branch operating in Turkey and the largest pro-Russian media outlet in that country. In particular, the authors were interested in how Russian propaganda targeted Turkish audiences through the context of COVID-19 vaccinations and how the Russian-made vaccine was promoted to Turkish audiences occurring within the backdrop of the ongoing Russian-Turkish rapprochement. Looking at over 2,700 tweets from SputnikTR about vaccines, the authors found that the account strategically promoted two themes: international popularity of the Russian vaccine and scientific integrity of the Russian vaccine. The latter theme had frequent references to the West trying to discredit Russian vaccine. SputnikTR's approach included unethical practices to increase engagement with tweets linking to vaccine-related content. This practice, known as 'salami slicing,' involves posting multiple tweets linking to the same article but using different imagery and tweet content to make it appear as though each tweet is unique and not simply a link back to the same article. Tweets also amplified endorsements for Russia's vaccine from political leaders around the world as a means of increasing the perceived popularity of the vaccine.
Tags
Method: Qualitative Operation: State Initiation of info ops threat/attack Attack: Economic institutions of the state that is threatened/attacked Attack: General population of the state that is threatened/attacked Geoscope: Single country UN Region: Western Asia DOD Region: EUCOM Country: Turkey Type: Article Year: FEB 2023
Research Background
- Research questions
- What are the mechanisms through which Russian influence is disseminated to the Turkish public?
- Hypotheses
- SputnikTR's strategic communication capacity was mobilized toward the end of 2020 to market Russian vaccine technologies to the Turkish public.
Variables or Concepts
- Independent variables & concepts
- Use of strategic communication themes (inferred)
- Use of 'salami slicing' approach (inferred)
- Dependent variables & concepts
- SputnikTR's strategy of influencing public opinion in Turkey (inferred)
Methodologies
- Qualitative method description
- Case study of SputnikTR's vaccine-related tweets on Turkish twitter based on framing, critical discourse analysis, and content analysis
Time Frame
- Start: 2019
- End: 2021