Putin's army of trolls

Prof. Gerhard Schneider, Emeritus Professor of Communication Systems at the University of Freiburg, and Dr. Nicholas Eschenbruch, Managing Director Centre for Security and Society at the University of Freiburg, discuss with Jessikka Aro about the importance of the internet in Russia's current politics.

The Finnish investigative journalist Jessikka Aro caused quite a stir with her book "Putin's Army of Trolls", published in 2019 (and translated into German in 2022). In her presentation, she traces how Russian internet trolls and bots spread propaganda and suppress political criticism.

Aro herself has also been targeted by these trolls and bots, becoming a victim of hacks and leaks. Born in 1980, Jessikka Aro works as an investigative journalist for the Finnish radio station Yleisradio and was awarded the Bonnier Prize for her research in 2016. In her work, she analyses the extent to which internet trolls and bots can be understood as part of hybrid warfare.

When:
Monday, 30.01.2023, 18:15 -> Event unfortunately has to be cancelled!

Where:
University of Freiburg, room 1010
Platz der Universität 3
79098 Freiburg

Organizers:
Zwetajewa-Centre for Russian Culture at the University of Freiburg
Chair of Modern and Eastern European History
German Association for East European Studies

The lecture will be held in English.
The author is digitally connected.

Contact:
Kerstin Steiger-Merx
Representative PR/Marketing
Faculty of Engineering
University of Freiburg
Tel.: 0761/203-8056
E-Mail: steiger-merx@tf.uni-freiburg.de