Security, Disinformation and Harmful Narratives: RT and Sputnik News Coverage about Sweden

Abstract

It is a well-known fact both among scholars of propaganda and disinformation, and among political leaders that Sputnik and RT are using their news coverage for disinformation purposes to harm Western and European societies. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which enhanced the security threat by disinformation, the EU decided to ban these two media. Against this backdrop, the study asks what the disinformation about Sweden in Sputnik and RT looked like prior to the ban (It should be noted that both channels still publish news for a European audience by way of VPN and other pathways.) It is done by way of a narrative approach, which means that the analyses seek to trace what stories that were told and how. The study thus analyzes the narrative logic of propaganda and disinformation narratives promulgated by Russian state-sponsored media platforms Sputnik and RT, and aim to show how these media have sought to denigrate Sweden. This is an open access book.