Digital Disinformation Campaign Around the War in Ukraine: Case of Alternative Media in Switzerland

Abstract

Intentional distribution of untrue and partly true information through the digital channels, also known as disinformation or “fake news” (Grynko & Baeriswyl, 2021) is one of the main threats for modern democracies. Recent research has indicated perceived potential danger of disinformation and "fake news" in Switzerland (Hermann & Bühler, 2018) and emphasized the risk of narrowing diversity in public opinion as a result of targeted disinformation campaigns (Maschmeyer, 2021). This case-study examines propaganda traditions of Russia and investigates the recent digital disinformation campaign in Switzerland during the first months of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Based on the grounded theory methodology and qualitative content-analyses of articles in alternative German-language media three central themes were identified: the theme accenting opposition Russia-West (1), the theme related to justification of war (2), and the theme presenting accusations western media of spreading propaganda (3). The study also revealed inconsistency in messages related to the same theme and specific persuasive techniques applied throughout the texts in order to increase credibility of communi-cated messages and their emotional impact. The case study also provided some limited results on adjusting messages to Swiss audience by mentioning the local politician, World Economic Forum, and particular media in Switzerland.