@florian-toepfl.bsky.social
Professor of Political Communication with a Focus on Eastern Europe and the Post-Soviet Region, PI of ERC consolidator project RUSINFORM on Russia's informational influence abroad. All opinions private.
A schoolbook example of a propaganda campaign. Banal and and very likely effective at the same time. meduza.io/en/feature/2...
‘Life matters more than your wallet’: Meduza takes a look at the Kremlin’s new media guidelines for spinning Russia’s tax hikes — Meduza
Russia’s new budget includes tax hikes that the Kremlin knows will anger the public. So the Putin administration has issued detailed instructions to state-run and pro-government media on how to frame ...
meduza.io
November 20, 2025 at 9:29 PM
A schoolbook example of a propaganda campaign. Banal and and very likely effective at the same time. meduza.io/en/feature/2...
Reposted
There's always a Russian connection ... "Jeffrey Epstein claims he gave Russians insight into Trump. Newly released emails show the late convicted sex offender’s extensive network of foreign contacts, whom he corresponded with about Trump’s policy decisions." www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
Jeffrey Epstein claims he gave Russians insight into Trump
Newly released emails show the late convicted sex offender’s extensive network of foreign contacts, whom he corresponded with about Trump’s policy decisions.
www.politico.com
November 12, 2025 at 8:49 PM
There's always a Russian connection ... "Jeffrey Epstein claims he gave Russians insight into Trump. Newly released emails show the late convicted sex offender’s extensive network of foreign contacts, whom he corresponded with about Trump’s policy decisions." www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
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New from me: “working the refs” has come for Wikipedia. The same type of attacks alleging anti-conservative bias that right wing politicians have make about social media are coming for the encyclopedia — because of its critical role in shaping AI answer engines.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
The Right-Wing Attack on Wikipedia
The free internet encyclopedia is widely used to train AI. That’s why conservatives are trying to dethrone it.
www.theatlantic.com
November 12, 2025 at 9:41 PM
New from me: “working the refs” has come for Wikipedia. The same type of attacks alleging anti-conservative bias that right wing politicians have make about social media are coming for the encyclopedia — because of its critical role in shaping AI answer engines.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
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For the government to remain on X is now unconscionable.
Elon Musk: "It is time for the English to ally with the hard men, like Tommy Robinson, and fight for their survival or they shall surely all die" 29th October 2025. 2 million views in its first hour.
October 29, 2025 at 9:32 AM
For the government to remain on X is now unconscionable.
Reposted
Out now: key data from the third wave of the Worlds of Journalism Study. 75 countries, >32,350 journalists, >300 researchers, seven years of successful collaboration. Many thanks to all who contributed to this project!
www.worldsofjournalism.org/reports-wjs3/
www.worldsofjournalism.org/reports-wjs3/
October 27, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Out now: key data from the third wave of the Worlds of Journalism Study. 75 countries, >32,350 journalists, >300 researchers, seven years of successful collaboration. Many thanks to all who contributed to this project!
www.worldsofjournalism.org/reports-wjs3/
www.worldsofjournalism.org/reports-wjs3/
Reposted
That there will likely be no Trump-Putin meeting in the near future does not change the fact that Putin’s psychological operation to disrupt the Tomahawk deliveries to Ukraine has been, so far, a success. That disruption was the only thing that actually mattered.
October 21, 2025 at 6:10 PM
That there will likely be no Trump-Putin meeting in the near future does not change the fact that Putin’s psychological operation to disrupt the Tomahawk deliveries to Ukraine has been, so far, a success. That disruption was the only thing that actually mattered.
Reposted
Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences slashed the number of Ph.D. student admissions slots for the Science division by more than 75 percent and for the Arts & Humanities division by about 60 percent for the next two years." www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Harvard FAS Cuts Ph.D. Seats By More Than Half Across Next Two Admissions Cycles | News | The Harvard Crimson
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences slashed the number of Ph.D. student admissions slots for the Science division by more than 75 percent and for the Arts & Humanities division by about 60 percent for th...
www.thecrimson.com
October 21, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences slashed the number of Ph.D. student admissions slots for the Science division by more than 75 percent and for the Arts & Humanities division by about 60 percent for the next two years." www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Reposted
1/Die Berlinskaja Prawda bietet heute ihren Leser*innen eine besondere Überraschung an: eine Kurzreise "Auf den Spuren Wilhelm Piecks". Ich vermute, nur wenige werden sich daran stören - wer war Pieck schon. Ein alter Mann mit immer guter Laune, den alle mochten... Kann man doch
October 21, 2025 at 7:08 PM
1/Die Berlinskaja Prawda bietet heute ihren Leser*innen eine besondere Überraschung an: eine Kurzreise "Auf den Spuren Wilhelm Piecks". Ich vermute, nur wenige werden sich daran stören - wer war Pieck schon. Ein alter Mann mit immer guter Laune, den alle mochten... Kann man doch
Reposted
Trump will den Krieg seit Amtsantritt einfrieren. Die Ukraine ist seit Monaten dazu bereit. Doch Russland verhindert Frieden. Putin will mehr ukrainisches Staatsgebiet, als er erobern konnte. Ohne echten Druck der USA wird er weiter mit Gewalt versuchen, sein Ziel zu erreichen.
October 20, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Trump will den Krieg seit Amtsantritt einfrieren. Die Ukraine ist seit Monaten dazu bereit. Doch Russland verhindert Frieden. Putin will mehr ukrainisches Staatsgebiet, als er erobern konnte. Ohne echten Druck der USA wird er weiter mit Gewalt versuchen, sein Ziel zu erreichen.
Reposted
media world vs. real world 😵💫
October 9, 2025 at 5:46 PM
media world vs. real world 😵💫
Reposted
why don't I see any critical coverage of this in Germany?
October 9, 2025 at 7:16 AM
why don't I see any critical coverage of this in Germany?
Reposted
Excellent read with many leading academics cited. On how Trump provokes violence to gain control. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/o...
Opinion | Trump Is Not Afraid of Civil War. Neither Is Stephen Miller.
www.nytimes.com
October 7, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Excellent read with many leading academics cited. On how Trump provokes violence to gain control. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/o...
Excellent read with many leading academics cited. On how Trump provokes violence to gain control. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/o...
Opinion | Trump Is Not Afraid of Civil War. Neither Is Stephen Miller.
www.nytimes.com
October 7, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Excellent read with many leading academics cited. On how Trump provokes violence to gain control. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/o...
Reposted
"We've been incredibly naive in entrusting our democratic space to social networks that are controlled either by large American entrepreneurs or large Chinese companies, whose interests are not at all the survival or proper functioning of our democracies." - Macron defenddemocracy.eu/macron-democ...
"Europeans, let's wake up!" — Defend Democracy
“We have been incredibly naive in entrusting our democratic space to social networks.” President Macron on the occasion of German Unity Day, 3 October 2025.
defenddemocracy.eu
October 4, 2025 at 12:43 PM
"We've been incredibly naive in entrusting our democratic space to social networks that are controlled either by large American entrepreneurs or large Chinese companies, whose interests are not at all the survival or proper functioning of our democracies." - Macron defenddemocracy.eu/macron-democ...
It seems likely that Russia will use the nuclear power plant in the next days and weeks to put pressure on Ukraine, in a very risky game.
kyivindependent.com/its-a-risky-...
kyivindependent.com/its-a-risky-...
'A risky situation' — The critical state of Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, explained
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) remains disconnected from the Ukrainian electricity grid and without external power for the 10th consecutive day, creating an increasingly "risky" situation...
kyivindependent.com
October 3, 2025 at 9:15 PM
It seems likely that Russia will use the nuclear power plant in the next days and weeks to put pressure on Ukraine, in a very risky game.
kyivindependent.com/its-a-risky-...
kyivindependent.com/its-a-risky-...
Reposted
Sitzen zwei Dikatoren in Europa beisammen und jammern, wie schlecht es ihnen geht: "Gestern saß ich den ganzen Tag mit Putin zusammen und wir haben darüber nachgedacht, wie wir diese schwierigen Zeiten überstehen können.”
‼️This 🔽
“Yesterday we sat with Putin almost all day and thought about how we could survive during this difficult time.
Russia is a huge rich empire. It has immeasurable wealth but today we are thinking about how to survive together.”
- Lukashenko
“Yesterday we sat with Putin almost all day and thought about how we could survive during this difficult time.
Russia is a huge rich empire. It has immeasurable wealth but today we are thinking about how to survive together.”
- Lukashenko
September 27, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Sitzen zwei Dikatoren in Europa beisammen und jammern, wie schlecht es ihnen geht: "Gestern saß ich den ganzen Tag mit Putin zusammen und wir haben darüber nachgedacht, wie wir diese schwierigen Zeiten überstehen können.”
Reposted
Over the last century, many democracies have started down the road to autocracy.
Some managed to turn around. What did these 'U-turns' have in common?
Political economist @marinanord.bsky.social & colleagues' conclusions are clear and succinct.
Full research summary: www.v-dem.net/media/public...
Some managed to turn around. What did these 'U-turns' have in common?
Political economist @marinanord.bsky.social & colleagues' conclusions are clear and succinct.
Full research summary: www.v-dem.net/media/public...
September 21, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Over the last century, many democracies have started down the road to autocracy.
Some managed to turn around. What did these 'U-turns' have in common?
Political economist @marinanord.bsky.social & colleagues' conclusions are clear and succinct.
Full research summary: www.v-dem.net/media/public...
Some managed to turn around. What did these 'U-turns' have in common?
Political economist @marinanord.bsky.social & colleagues' conclusions are clear and succinct.
Full research summary: www.v-dem.net/media/public...
A highly recommended read: policyreview.info/articles/ana...
Facebook, the EU and Russia’s war: Challenges of moderating authoritarian news
Despite several measures to curb their visibility, this study shows how Facebook mediates predominantly Russian state-aligned news during Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine
policyreview.info
September 16, 2025 at 3:27 PM
A highly recommended read: policyreview.info/articles/ana...
Reposted
My new article, “ANO Dialog: Innovation in Controlling Russia’s Digital Information”, is out in Post-Soviet Affairs in Open Access. With @florian-toepfl.bsky.social & @jkling288.bsky.social, we extend our OSINT CV analysis method of Prigozhin’s troll factory to a new case doi.org/10.1080/1060...
1/3
1/3
ANO Dialog: innovation in controlling Russia’s digital information
ANO Dialog, a new organization closely linked to the Russian presidential administration, was founded in Moscow in 2019 with the aim of “creating digital dialogue between the state and the public.”...
doi.org
September 11, 2025 at 3:55 PM
My new article, “ANO Dialog: Innovation in Controlling Russia’s Digital Information”, is out in Post-Soviet Affairs in Open Access. With @florian-toepfl.bsky.social & @jkling288.bsky.social, we extend our OSINT CV analysis method of Prigozhin’s troll factory to a new case doi.org/10.1080/1060...
1/3
1/3
A new paper of ours on one of the successor organizations of Russsia's infamous Internet Research Agency (IRA) has been published: Congratulations to my (former) doctoral students and co-authors @sergepoliakoff.bsky.social and @jkling288.bsky.social! www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
ANO Dialog: innovation in controlling Russia’s digital information
ANO Dialog, a new organization closely linked to the Russian presidential administration, was founded in Moscow in 2019 with the aim of “creating digital dialogue between the state and the public.”...
www.tandfonline.com
September 16, 2025 at 3:26 PM
A new paper of ours on one of the successor organizations of Russsia's infamous Internet Research Agency (IRA) has been published: Congratulations to my (former) doctoral students and co-authors @sergepoliakoff.bsky.social and @jkling288.bsky.social! www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted
Am 18.9. erscheint unser Buch „Der Stille Krieg. Wie Autokraten Deutschland angreifen“ (mit @RBingener). Es zeigt das Spektrum hybrider Kriegführung von Sabotage über Desinformation bis zu Migration und enthält eine Fortsetzung der #MoskauConnection.
September 4, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Am 18.9. erscheint unser Buch „Der Stille Krieg. Wie Autokraten Deutschland angreifen“ (mit @RBingener). Es zeigt das Spektrum hybrider Kriegführung von Sabotage über Desinformation bis zu Migration und enthält eine Fortsetzung der #MoskauConnection.
Reposted
A free, democratic and independent Ukraine.
That's what you are fighting for.
That's what our efforts are all about.
We are with you, for as long as it takes. Because a free Ukraine is a free Europe.
Happy Independence Day, Ukraine!
That's what you are fighting for.
That's what our efforts are all about.
We are with you, for as long as it takes. Because a free Ukraine is a free Europe.
Happy Independence Day, Ukraine!
August 24, 2025 at 6:28 AM
A free, democratic and independent Ukraine.
That's what you are fighting for.
That's what our efforts are all about.
We are with you, for as long as it takes. Because a free Ukraine is a free Europe.
Happy Independence Day, Ukraine!
That's what you are fighting for.
That's what our efforts are all about.
We are with you, for as long as it takes. Because a free Ukraine is a free Europe.
Happy Independence Day, Ukraine!
Reposted
Vance can’t be this ignorant, can he? WWII was not ended with a negotiation. Germany and Japan were dictatorial and genicidal regimes that had to be crushed by the military might of the US and Russia. FDR did not sit down and negotiate with Hitler.
JD Vance: "This is how wars ultimately get settled. If you go back to World War 2, if you go back to every major conflict in human history, they all end with some kind of negotiation."
August 24, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Vance can’t be this ignorant, can he? WWII was not ended with a negotiation. Germany and Japan were dictatorial and genicidal regimes that had to be crushed by the military might of the US and Russia. FDR did not sit down and negotiate with Hitler.