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Combatting Disinformation Campaigns: A Reappraisal of Strategic Communications
Wilson, Alyssa Joy ; Karásek, Tomáš (advisor) ; Beneš, Jan (referee)
In the context of increasing technologicalization and the growing interconnectedness of our world through social media, this thesis aims to answer the question, why is disinformation not being sufficiently handled in the United States in the wake of the foreign meddling in the 2016 Presidential Elections, and what can and should be done about the threat? This master thesis therefore aims to delve into the inherent vulnerabilities in the U.S. societal fabric, and thus conduct an in-depth explanatory case study model analysis of what should be done to further combat and counteract disinformation and election meddling within the country. The author argues that disinformation and election meddling are not only a serious security threat, but are also not being properly handled as they are only being addressed technologically, and not through the realm of information, and societal resilience. This thesis therefore argues that strategic communication, which should be redefined and expanded in definition, should be used to combat disinformation campaigns to prevent further election meddling. The author posits that a two-level approach is best, one which aims to negate the negative disinformation campaigns through a single governmental body, while also addressing the root causes through education.
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Russian news websites in the Czech Republic and its reporting about the European Union
Podzimková, Pavlína ; Osvaldová, Barbora (advisor) ; Moravec, Václav (referee)
In recent years, many sources have referred to the Russian hybrid or information warfare against the West. Disinformation media is considered an important part of the Russian strategy. A large number of allegedly Russian disinformation websites have appeared in the Czech Republic after 2014, when tensions in Ukraine were escalated. In this bachelor thesis we will analyse three of them: Sputnik Czech Republic, Aeronet and AC24. This content analysis will focus especially on news about the European Union. The aim of this bachelor thesis is to confirm or disprove the hypothesis about the Russian propaganda effort to weaken the status of Western institutions. The thesis will also deal with methods of manipulation in the content of disinformation websites.
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Securitization of hybrid war in the Czech Republic
Hendrych, Daniel ; Kazharski, Aliaksei (advisor) ; Záhora, Jakub (referee)
The thesis is focused on currently widely discussed topic of the Russian hybrid warfare. It examines how the discourse surrounding this topic in the Czech Republic unfolded and how certain actors, primarily the think-tank European Values, have securitized the issue of the Russian hybrid warfare. The thesis is grounded in the securitization theory developed by the Copenhagen School. The international context is also discussed, since the discourses about the Russian hybrid warfare against the West are interconnected and the interest in this subject have risen after the annexation of Crimea and especially after the Russian interference into the U.S. presidential election in 2016. The case study of the documents related to the Russian hybrid warfare published by the think-tank European Values is central to this project. Institutional mistrust is a crucial underlying cause driving the success of disinformation campaigns and creates an opportunity for the hybrid efforts. However, this thesis attempts to explain, how securitization of the Russian hybrid warfare can be unhelpful or even detrimental to the goal of facilitating a greater trust in institutions.
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Migration and refugees in today's globalized world with regard to the social aspects
Sufčák, David ; Nová, Monika (advisor) ; Čedík, Miloslav (referee)
The thesis focuses on "Migration and refugees in the current globalized world with regard to social aspects" and its key objective is to map attitudes of the population in the Czech Republic to refugees and migrants in the shadow of the European migration crisis. The thesis consists of two parts: theoretical and empirical. The theoretical part contains a detailed presentation of the refugeeism and migration phenomena. It provides basic definitions of the terms "migration", "migrant" and "refugee". Further, it also describes the history and present of migration and refugees and provides prediction of the future. A deep analysis is provided of the current European migration and refugee crisis and its social, political, legislative, economic and security aspects. The thesis also focuses on causes of migration, its impacts, cultural conflicts and potential solutions. The theoretical part also contains an analysis of social work with migrants and refugees in the Czech Republic. The thesis also addresses the role of media and disinformation (the so-called fake news) on the Internet. The theoretical part also presents different approaches of individual countries to migration and refugees across the continents. The second part of the thesis is empirical and it uses the strategy of quantitative research;...
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Chain e-mails as e form of politican propaganda
Šalplachtová, Iva ; Klabíková Rábová, Tereza (advisor) ; Klimeš, David (referee)
The goal of this thesis is to raise awareness of, mostly politically oriented, chain disinformation emails, which can be found especially among the members of the oldest generation. Furthermore, another objective of the thesis is to analyze the contents of the emails and their influence on recipients and senders. The first part of the thesis defines the basic concepts, e.g. disinformation, its occurrence and comparison, the senior generation and its activity in the digital environment, or chain emails and their origin. The second part deals with analysis of news-it focuses on revealing disinformation present in selected emails. This part also points out the often-recurring narratives. The third part of this thesis is the research. On the basis of four different hypotheses, this last part analyses the influence of chain emails on focus group respondents. The hypotheses are formed on grounds of findings obtained from processing the theoretical part of the thesis and from the results of the email analysis and the second part of this thesis.
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Design of modern propaganda: Communication of Russian Federation
Kerhart, Miroslav ; Shavit, Anna (advisor) ; Švec, Kamil (referee)
The bachelor thesis studies the nature of communication of Russian Federation. In the beginning the theoretical concepts of state-communication are defined and the key points of difference between each other are specified. In the following part of the thesis, the Russian communication is examined, based on defined theoretical concepts. To achieve this objective, direct and indirect instruments used by Russia are analysed, so is the content communicated by them. Eventually, after determination of the correct term for the Russian communication, there are shortly introduced the objectives of Russian Federation, based on inteligence reports and experts studying the Russian activities.
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Parliamentary Elections in Latvia 2018
Hvězda, Jan ; Švec, Kamil (advisor) ; Brunclík, Miloš (referee)
This bachelor thesis is a case study of the thirteenth parliamentary election in Latvia that took place on October 6, 2018. The first chapter introduces political and party system of Latvia and its development after the breakdown of the Soviet Union. At the same time, it observes the election results since 1993 until 2014. The following chapter introduces all sixteen political parties that took part in 2018 parliamentary election. The text is concerned with their election promises, preferences and important candidates. The next part describes the election process or, more specifically, rules of candidacy, voting rights, electoral districts, campaign rules, possibility of voting abroad and vote counting. The following chapter shows results of the election itself and confronts them with the previous election results. The thesis includes reactions of several foreign media that worried about high number of votes for a pro-Russian party Harmony. Next chapter follows negotiations about the shape of new government that now consists of five parties. In the end, the study solves the problem of minority politics and, particularly, Russian propaganda in Latvia. It offers a list of pro-Kremlin disinformational websites, suggests ways how to counter fake news and analyzes whether Latvian election was affected...
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Analysis of the security situation in the European Union for the past 15 years
SKOŘEPA, Matěj
The aim of this thesis is to analyze the changes in security for the EU over the p?ast 15 years from the perspective of de facto deeds, various strata of the population, and experts. The thesis also considers the influence of other states on EU citizens and evaluation of changes in political argumentation. The method of text analysis was used to achieve this goal; looking at the literature of renowned experts, the analysis of European legislation, and the annual reports of EUROPOL. This thesis contributes to the body of knowledge that examines how the attacks of September 11, 2001, have changed the current state of security measures in the EU. The work provides a chronological view of the period under review. The work also views the time since 2001 as a struggle with the external enemy. Through this evaluation, it is revealed that the enemy is not just external but also internal, as seen in the British attack on London in 2005. After 2010, criminals have increased threats to information and technology. At this time the EU is beginning to face its democratic principles and despite simpler ways to repress crime, these are unacceptable because of the EU's strict human rights principles. The principles (human rights) are emphasized in every document; however, criminals do not respect these principles. The evaluation suggests that the terrorist attacks happening today are occuring more frequently on local citizens. The lone wolf, an Islamic state-motivated individual who uses a simple but effective means, such as car bombings, are happening more often. There is a migration crisis that is exploited by populist groups for their own benefit. The misinformation is used to influence EU public opinion. The EU is facing the simultaneous challenges of combating hybrid threats, threat of misinformation, and terrorism. The EU must convince its own citizens that it is not enemy #1; however, that is very difficult as every mistake is exaggerated and emphasized by the enemy.
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Seek Russians behind everything: Critical research of "Russian disinformation campaign" discourse in the Czech republic
Čech, Adam ; Rychnovská, Dagmar (advisor) ; Záhora, Jakub (referee)
of diploma thesis ‚Seek Russians behind everything: Critical research of "Russian disinformation campaign" discourse in the Czech republic'. Author: Bc. Adam Čech Supervised by: Dagmar Rychnovská, M.A., LL.M., Ph.D. Study programme: International relations Year of work defence: 2019 This study researches the "Russian disinformation campaign threat" discourse, that was established in the Czech republic since 2014. The study utilizes a method termed for the purpose of this work as "lesser discourse analysis". It explores the origins and influences that played a role in creation of a specific understanding of the topic. Subsequently it engages in a critical analysis of the discourse and assesses whether the understanding of the Russian hybrid threat, especially regarding the disinformation, is legitimate and based on known facts and correct interpretation of them, or whether it is not (partially) based on delusions, myths, logical shortcuts, misinformation (or possibly disinformation) on part of the creators and active participators of the discourse. The study also presents a set of recommendations to "straighten" the discourse on this important topic. The study engages in analysing of the process of the agenda-setting regarding the topic through the lenses of "securitization theory ". It identifies...
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Migration crisis and security of the Czech Republic from the perspective of Parlamentní listy, Sputnik and Aeronet in 2015 and 2016
Červenková, Romana ; Aslan, Emil (advisor) ; Kaleta, Ondřej (referee)
The master's thesis deals with disinformation websites' migration crisis framing regarding the Czech Republic. The thesis is based on the theory of social constructivism, which considers a speech act to be a crucial factor of securitization. The author proceeds mainly from the work of Thierry Balzacq, who reckons media to be the main securitization actors. The theoretical base of this thesis is supplemented by the theory of moral panic, which comes into being due to impact of securitization of particular person/group/institution. The thesis researches the way how migration crisis was securitized from 2015 to 2016. Therefore content analysis and discourse analysis are used. The articles, which are subjected to the research were published by Parlamentni listy, Sputnik and Aeronet. Articles were subjected to content analysis so as the author was able to find out which keywords emerged most frequently. Particular phrases were linked to specific themes, which consisted of "Security", "Criticism of government" and "National identity". After the quantitative analysis, the articles were subjected to qualitative analysis based on James Paul Gee's method, which allows the author to understand the used discourse and the context, within which the discourse emerged. Particular articles are then researched...
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