Russia waging information war against Sweden, study finds

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/11/russia-waging-information-war-in-sweden-study-finds

Jon Henley
Jan. 11, 2017

Sweden’s most authoritative foreign policy institute has accused Russia of using fake news, false documents and disinformation as part of a coordinated campaign to influence public opinion and decision-making in the Scandinavian country.

The Swedish Institute of International Affairs said in a comprehensive study that Sweden had been the target of “a wide array of active measures” aimed at “hampering its ability to generate public support in pursuing its policies”.

The study said Russia had used misleading reports on its state-run news website Sputnik, and public interventions by Russian politicians in Swedish domestic affairs, as well as more covert methods.

These included forged documents and fabricated news items that appeared in Swedish media and were subsequently picked up by Sputnik and “other sources of Russian public diplomacy” and broadcast to an international audience, it said.

The report admitted it was impossible for researchers to establish exactly where and how the forgeries and fake stories had been generated, but said they were consistent with Russia’s strategic objectives.

“We are able to establish intent, dominant narratives, behavioural patterns and strategic goals, where the close correlation between Russian public diplomacy and active measures suggest the operation of a coordinated campaign,” it said.

Moscow’s main aim was to “preserve the geo-strategic status quo” by minimising Nato’s role in the Baltic region and keeping Sweden out of the international military alliance, the study said.

Following accusations that Russian hackers interfered with the US presidential election and similar concerns expressed in Germany, the authors said their study confirmed a “growing body of research highlighting Russia’s increasing use of active measures as a foreign policy tool towards western states” since 2014.

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The study said the forgeries contained enough factual and other mistakes to enable authorities to declare them fakes – but not before they had been widely circulated on social media, Swedish and Russian websites and, in one case, mainstream media.

In “their level of detail and the instrumental exploitation of non-household names”, the forgeries and fake news stories “suggest the originators of the documents have access to comprehensive intelligence on Swedish society”, it said.

It also identified “troll armies” targeting journalists and academics, hijacked Twitter accounts and pro-Kremlin NGOs operating in Sweden as further weapons in what it said amounted to a Russian information war.

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Many were highly negative about Nato or the European Union in particular, Åsberg said, adding that false information had made its way into parliamentary debates.

Sweden’s prime minister, Stefan Löfven, told a national defence conference this week that he “cannot rule out” Russia trying to influence the country’s next elections, which are due in 2018.

“We should not rule it out and be naive and think that it does not happen in Sweden. That’s why information and cybersecurity is part of this strategy,” Löfven told the TT news agency.

The Kremlin has denied claims it interfered in the US elections, hitting out at what it says are “baseless allegations substantiated with nothing” and claiming the assertions by the American intelligence agencies are a political witch-hunt.

An intelligence report declassified on Friday said Vladimir Putin had personally “ordered an influence campaign” during the US election to tip the balance in Donald Trump’s favour.