RUSSIAN DISINFO SHAPES SLOVAKIA'S VOTE
Earlier this month, pro-Russian candidate Peter Pellegrini won the Slovakian presidential elections, beating pro-Western candidate Ivan Korcok by a margin of 6%. Many have attributed Pellegrini's win to a helping hand from Moscow in the form of a deluge of disinformation. Notably, Korcok won the first round of voting in March with a lead of more than 5%. However, "in the aftermath of the first-round vote, Slovakia's pro-Russia media outlets and proxies energetically perpetuated the disinformation that Korcok was the candidate of war who would reinstate military conscription and send Slovak soldiers to Ukraine to fight for Kyiv" – leading to his eventual electoral loss.
Russian propaganda was disseminated through social media, as well as pro-Russian internet platforms and websites such as Hlavne Spravy, ExtraPlus, InfoVojna and others. Eva Mihockova of the Bratislava-based think tank Slovak Foreign Policy Association assessed Russia's impact as "immense and influential." Even though Slovakia's presidency is a largely symbolic position, with most power residing in the office of Prime Minister, Pellegrini's victory nonetheless means that the Kremlin has gained another high-ranking supporter in the EU and within NATO. It has also brought Slovakia closer to another Kremlin ally in the Eurozone: Hungary. Many ethnic Hungarians in Slovakia who support Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his Fidesz party came out strongly in support of Pellegrini. (Foreign Policy, April 17, 2024)
CHINA TIGHTENS THE DIGITAL REINS
Recently, China's government ordered tech giant Apple to remove WhatsApp, Threads, Signal, and Telegram from the lineup of programs on its App Store that are available to Chinese citizens. Apple claims that Beijing made its request due to unspecified "national security concerns." Observers, however, say that the real reason for the deplatforming has everything to do with the increasingly strict media environment within the PRC. "Chat messaging platforms have been a thorn in the side for Chinese authorities because they provide a channel for users to organize social movements," notes Eric Liu with the China Digital Times, a website tracking Chinese censorship.
Over 140,000 apps are already blocked in China, including apps related to the LGBTQ+ community and popular apps such as Reddit, ChatGPT, and even Spotify. In 2023, Beijing required "mobile app developers to register their apps with regulators" by March of 2024 or see them removed from the App Store. Apple has already made clear its reservations about these policies, but as a company spokesperson stated, "We are obligated to follow the laws in the countries where we operate, even when we disagree." Other considerations also doubtless apply, given that China represents the single "most important international sales market" for the company, as well as the "largest manufacturing base globally." (Wall Street Journal, April 19, 2024)
THE TALIBAN CLAMPS DOWN ON AFGHAN MEDIA
Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, Afghanistan's "once-thriving free-press sector" has been demolished due to the Islamist movement's harsh media-related restrictions. Recently, local reporter Habib Rahman Taseer was jailed by the Taliban's intelligence agency on undisclosed charges. A number of television channels have been banned outright, while two private ones -- Noor TV and Barya TV – were recently suspended due to "alleged violations of media regulations." The director of the Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC), Ahmad Queraishi, attributes Noor TV's suspension to its failure to comply with new rules relating to women. Under edicts propagated by the Islamist group, female anchors must now fully cover their faces except for their eyes, and in parts of the country they are not allowed to be heard over the radio at all. Taliban representatives claim these policies to be "in accordance with Islamic and traditional values," but critics have labeled them "misogynistic and oppressive."
The recent bans and suspensions are part of a much larger pattern. Over the past two years, "dozens of outlets have been silenced, forcing thousands of media professionals and civil society activists to flee the country," the Voice of America details. Unfortunately, both journalists inside the country and those operating from outside Afghanistan's borders are at risk of persecution at the hands of the Taliban. Currently, at least 150 journalists have fled to Pakistan, from where they are hoping to be resettled to a third country. The exodus has strategic effects; as the Taliban progressively silences journalists and civil society activists, it will become increasingly difficult for the international community to receive accurate, up-to-date information about the political and humanitarian situation in Afghanistan. (Voice of America, April 17, 2024)
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